
Book 



r?^A/ 



CopyrightN^-. 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSn^ 



Glimpses of Many 
Lands 



By 
Sarah Robb Congleton 




Chicago 

Privately Printed 

1915 



.C-,4 



Copyright, iqis, by 
SARAH ROBB CONGLETON 



E\)e fLakesttit ^rtss 

R. DONNELLEY 4- SONS COMPANY 
CHICAGO 



MAY 26 iaiS 
©C1,A406026 



Foreword 

I have not written a book. At the urgent request 
of some of our friends, I have collected the letters I 
wrote to them during the year we were traveling in 
many lands, and with the help of the quite copious 
notes which I never failed to record in my diary I 
have been able to reproduce at least a general idea of 
where we have been and what we have seen, and a 
faint glimpse only of the much we have learned. 

If this story of our journeyings gives one half the 
pleasure to those who read it, that it has given to me 
in the writing, it will not have been written in vain; 
for in rewriting these letters, and in the frequent refer- 
ences to my notebooks, I have lived over again much 
of the interesting and valuable part of our trip, without 
any of our discomforts and weariness. 

If our experience and notes can be a help to anyone 
contemplating a similar trip, I shall be glad I have 
written this. S. R. C. 



Contents 

LeUer Page 

I. On the Pacific 7 

II. Japan 18 

III. Japan 31 

IV. Japan, Korea, and China'. ... 42 
V. China 55 

VI. China 63 

VII. Java 70 

VIII. Singapore and Burma .... 81 

IX. India 92 

X. India 106 

XI. Ceylon 121 

XII. Egypt 127 

XIII. Palestine 142 

XIV. Constantinople and Athens . . 160 
XV. Italy and Austria 171 

XVI. Central Europe 178 

XVII. The Land of the Midnight Sun . 186 

XVIII. Sweden and Russia 198 

XIX. The Beginning of the War . . 214 

XX. On the Atlantic 221 



Glimpses of Many Lands 



I 

On the Pacific 

On board the 
Pacific Mail Steamship "Mongolia" 
Wednesday, October i, 1913. 

Dear Home Folk: — I am going to begin a letter 
to-day, and will try to add a little each day while on 
the boat; then when we reach Yokohama I will have 
a full account of the trip, all ready to mail. 

We left the St. Francis Hotel, San Francisco, about 
10:30 this morning, for the steamer dock, and were 
soon on board the "Mongolia," where we made the 
acquaintance of the other four members of our party, — 
Mr. and Mrs. W. T. Pitkin, Miss J. Bowman, and 
Mr. E. Goff, all of Hartford, Connecticut. Our 
conductor, Mr. H. Wilfred Kelley, of Boston, had 
already called upon us at the hotel. Found our cabin, 
and the boat generally, very satisfactory, and began 
to get our belongings adjusted for a nearly three weeks' 
residence in somewhat restricted quarters. 

The "Mongolia" steamed out from the pier soon after 
noon, leaving a handkerchief-waving crowd on the 
dock, and a band playing, "Should auld acquaintance 



8 ' Glimpses of Many Lands 

be forgot?" The sun was shining brightly, and the 
bay very smooth. We stayed on deck until after we had 
passed through the Golden Gate, then went down to 
the dining saloon to "tiffin" (the oriental word for 
luncheon). 

After we left the bay, the sea grew rather rough, 
and kept getting more so, until the great swells capped 
with white rolled high, and the boat swayed consider- 
ably. When the captain was asked if this was not 
pretty rough for the Pacific, he answered, "Oh, no, 
this is a perfect sea. As smooth as a millpond, — a 
mirror." But from the peculiar twinkle of his eye 
when he made the remark, one might draw conclusions 
as to his truthfulness. Most of the passengers left 
the deck, and by 6 p. m. we began to wonder if this was 
the beginning of the end of our enjoyment of the 
ocean voyage. Went down to dinner, however, but 
did not eat much. Were not sick at all, — but just 
felt as if it might happen, so thought it wise to go to 
bed at 8 p. m. 

Felt all right after lying down. Slept fairly well, 
and were up and had breakfast with the first, the next 
morning. The same kind of "mirror sea" continued — 
only more so. The sky was overcast all day, with a 
stiff breeze blowing, and a little misty rain fell in the 
afternoon. But the ocean was grand! the deepest, 
darkest blue, lashed into rolling billows of white. We 
felt all right all day, and were down at every meal. 

The third day out the sky was still gray, but the 
sea not nearly so rough, and nearly all the people 



On the Pacific 



were down at meals, and on the deck; and we began 
to get acquainted with our fellow-passengers, and 
found that there were fifty-seven missionaries on 
board, — not the "57 varieties," though there are 
several varieties. Some are returning to their work, 
after a vacation in the home land, and many are young 
college men and women, fresh from their preparation 
work, and going to their new work, full of enthusiasm 
and energy. We were invited to meet with them in a 
Bible class each morning at 10 o'clock, which invita- 
tion we gladly accepted. 

The fourth day out was bright and lovely, and the 
sea beautiful, and we kept well, hungry, and happy. 
No need to remain hungry, however, as we can have 
six meals a day if we wish. Broth and crackers are 
served on deck at 10:30 a. m., afternoon tea at 4 p. m., 
and light refreshments at 9 p. m. 

This afternoon there was a fire drill, and the entire 
crew — all Chinese — were lined up, and at orders from 
the officers, went through with all the things they would 
be required to do in case of a real fire. 

In the evening there was a dance on the upper deck, 
with decorations of flags, lanterns, etc. The music 
is furnished by a Philippino band, — stringed instru- 
ments, all played with the fingers only. They are 
quite good. They play during tiffin, afternoon tea, 
and dinner. 

The fifth day out was Sunday, and we had morning 
service in the social hall. The Episcopal service was 
read, and then a very good sermon by Rev. Reuben A. 



lo " Glimpses of Many Lands 

Torrey, son of Rev. Torrey of the Moody Church, 
Chicago. He is one of the young Presbyterian mis- 
sionaries going to China. His young wife is with him. 
At 4 p. M. there was a Sunday school for the little 
people, and a large Bible class was held in the dining 
saloon. In the evening we sang hymns in social hall. 
The day was fine. The sun shone most of the time, 
though there were numerous showers of rain, which 
went over with a sudden dash. The sea was the most 
"deeply, darkly, beautifully blue" that it has yet 
been, — the most glorious sight, just the rolling swells 
of deep blue capped with myriads of plumes of white. 
Altogether it was a beautiful, restful, and happy day. 

I have forgotten to state that our first "stunt" 
every morning is a cold salt water plunge, — not in the 
ocean — oh! no, but in a bathtub. This is arranged 
for each of us at 6:45, but it keeps us thinking to get 
it right every morning, as the steamer clocks are put 
back about thirty minutes every midnight. We are 
going west, and yet we realize that we are getting 
pretty far south also, as it is very warm, and the sea 
is quite tropical-looking, — smooth, and with sudden 
downpours of rain, then bright sunshine in a few 
minutes. About the middle of this afternoon there 
was a complete arch of a double rainbow, with end 
seeming to touch the water just beside the boat. 

At the first peep of day, on the seventh day out, I 
was at our cabin window, and far ahead of us, to the 
right, I saw the revolving light of a lighthouse, and 
knew that we were nearing land. The signal for get- 



On the Pacific 1 1 



ting up came an hour earlier than usual, so we had our 
cold plunge, were dressed, and on deck before seven 
o'clock to watch the approach to Honolulu. We an- 
chored out in the harbor for "the doctor" to come 
aboard. The crew were "passed" by him first, then 
the steerage and second-class passengers, and the 
first-class were all lined up on the upper deck. After 
a long, tedious wait, the doctor went through with 
the formality of passing along in front of the line; 
after which the welcome sound of the bugle made us 
all scurry down to the dining-room to breakfast, — 
which was later than usual, notwithstanding the fact 
that we were up earlier. 

After breakfast there was a great bustle of going 
on shore, — for it had been announced that the "Mon- 
golia" would remain at the dock until lo o'clock the 
next morning, so everybody went ashore to see Hono- 
lulu. A heavy dash of rain delayed us about ten 
minutes, then it was as bright as before. Two auto- 
mobiles were waiting for our party, and we were soon 
whirling away through the business part of the city, 
and out a beautiful drive, about eight miles, to the 
Pali. This is the "Pass" — the opening through the 
mountainous cliff, to the precipice where King Ka- 
mehameha I drove a great horde of his enemies 
to bay, and crowded them over the precipice into the 
ocean. A bronze tablet in the rock records the cheer- 
ful incident. 

The view from this point is surpassingly grand, — 
the great mountains and cliffs, the valleys below 



1 2 Glimpses of Many Lands 

covered with pineapple fields and dotted with tiny 
houses, the greenness and beauty of the vegetation, 
and the wonderfully changing shades of the ocean as 
it stretched far away, — pale blue, deep blue, green 
and purple, with the white surf rolling in! It was a 
view never to be forgotten. From there we drove 
through other beautiful streets to Mauna Loa Park, 
then through numerous streets of fine homes, and out 
to the famous Waikiki Beach, where we watched the 
bathers and the surf-riding for a while, and had 
tiffin at the Moana Hotel. 

Our first stop in the afternoon was at the Aquarium, 
where we saw what is called the greatest collection in 
the world of bright-colored fishes. They are truly 
wonderful. Every shade of every color of the rain- 
bow, and all possible combinations of the colors. One 
can hardly think it possible that they are real. But 
there they are, — flitting about as gaily in the water 
as an ordinary minnow in a home pond. From there 
we drove to Diamond Head, — the fortified point pro- 
tecting the harbor, — and then to Fort Ruger, near by, 
where the soldiers are stationed. 

From the fort we next went to a fine, new residence 
suburb, overlooking the ocean, then a long drive 
through many streets of the finest residence section 
of the city, and past the present residence of ex-Queen 
Liliuokalani. " She is 73 years old, dyes her hair black, 
and wears a merry-widow hat." So says our guide. 

It is impossible to give anyone much of an idea, 
by attempted description, of the variety and beauty 



On the Pacific 13 



of the vegetation, — the avenues of stately royal palms; 
the groves of cocoanut palms; the banana groves; the 
papia and mango trees; the ponciana trees with their 
wealth of scarlet bloom; the great masses of bougan- 
vellea; the immense oleander trees — both pink and 
white blooms; the hedges of hibiscus, — red, pink, 
white, and variegated; and great hedges of night- 
blooming cereus. There were myriads of other flowers, 
— roses, chrysanthemums, alamanda, frangipani, — but 
I refrain from further mention, as their name is legion. 

From all this beauty we came back down town to 
the Alexander Young Hotel, where we had tea and 
rested for a while, then walked about the business part 
of the city for an hour, then back to our "home" on 
the "Mongolia," to spend the night. The next morning 
we had a couple of hours before sailing, so went over 
into town again to do a little shopping which we did 
not have time for the day before. 

Honolulu is certainly a most charming city, deserv- 
ing all the nice things that have been written and said 
of it. The weather was fine, — warm, but not un- 
comfortable. It rained a number of showers during 
the day, but cleared off at once. They say there are 
365 days just like that in the year, — in leap year 366 
of them. 

The buildings are quite like an American city, — 
many beautiful and costly modern residences and fine 
grounds, — and the stores and shops are much like those 
at home. Everybody seems to speak English as well 
as we do, — even the little Chinese and Japanese news- 



14 Glimpses of Many Lands 

boys. The Y. M. C. A. has a good building down in 
town. On a large stone in front are carved the words, 
"The life of the land is preserved by righteousness," — 
the motto of Hawaii. 

We left Honolulu as announced, at about lo o'clock. 
There were a good many people at the dock to see us 
oif, and a party of American-Hawaiians sang "Aloha,'* 
the song-greeting of the natives, followed by "In the 
Sweet Bye and Bye," and that followed by, "God be 
with You Till We Meet Again." It was a more beautiful 
and impressive send-off than the one in San Francisco. 

My principal "souvenir" of Honolulu was a hard 
cold which developed the next day, which made it 
hard to enjoy anything, so settled down to read 
Churchill's "The Inside of the Cup." 

After leaving Honolulu we went nearly straight 
west for several days, and the sea was very smooth 
and the weather hot. Many of the passengers are 
dressed in white all the time. After the Bible study 
class, on two different days. Dr. Selden, a missionary 
returning to China, gave us a half-hour talk on, "Some 
sanitary precautions to be taken in the hot countries," 
— meant especially for the young missionaries, but 
just as good for us. 

On Saturday, October nth, we had a rather unusual 
experience. We expected to cross the i8oth meridian 
the following night, and Sunday the I2th would be 
dropped from our calendar, and we would find it 
Monday the 13th when we would get up the next 
morning. So the church people decided to have 



On the Pacific 15 



their regular church service, which was held in the 
dining saloon, on Saturday, with a sermon by Rev. 
Pratt, a young Presbyterian missionary who is going 
to China. 

That afternoon, about 5:30 o'clock, a heavy black 
cloud loomed up on the horizon straight ahead of us, 
which kept getting blacker and more threatening as 
we approached it. The sun disappeared behind it, and 
by 7 o'clock it looked very bad, with almost continuous 
flashes of jagged lightning from it. We ran into it 
about 8 o'clock, and the rain fell in torrents for two 
hours. There was a strong wind with it, which drove 
everybody off deck, and made them close everything 
on the windward side. But it wore away after a while 
and in the morning the sea was comfortably smooth 
again, and the weather not quite so warm. The noon 
report showed us to be in latitude 26° north and longitude 
176° east, — having crossed the i8oth meridian in the 
night. 

At 2:30 p. M. the event was celebrated on the boat 
deck, by a meeting of the "Court of Neptune," at 
which those found guilty of running "the man-made 
whale 'Mongolia,' " were suitably punished. Neptune 
and Mrs. Neptune sat on their thrones arrayed in 
royal apparel, and a procession with band marched 
around the different decks, then to the throne, where 
the farce was carried out. Before this, the college 
fellows had arranged for a three days' program of 
"field-day" sports. These began on this Monday, 
and were continued for three days. They were very 



i6 Glimpses of Many Lands 

interesting and funny. And so the days went by, with 
all sorts of interesting things, everybody seeming to 
be having a good time, and voting the trip a most de- 
lightful one, — but the end was not yet. 

On the evening of Thursday, the i6th there was a 
grand fancy-dress ball, — or, rather, a party, as many 
of those who do not dance took part also. Those who 
did not do the fancy-dress stunt, "dressed up" in their 
very best evening dress. But Neptune was not done 
with the "Mongolia" yet, and put a little handicap on 
their fun. About 2:30 o'clock a high wind came up, 
which kept increasing until by night it was almost a 
typhoon — hot as one, too, and the sea rolling tremen- 
dously. The boat rocked and plunged as we had not 
imagined the "Mongolia" could do, and, as a result, a 
good many had to retire to their rooms early. Some 
could not even come down to dinner. We kept up 
all right, and did not go to the cabin till 10 o'clock. 
But the storm kept up all night, and the boat pitched 
so that we did not sleep much, though we were not 
ill at all, and were up next morning and at breakfast 
with the first, — though there were not half the pas- 
sengers that came down at all. The wind kept up all 
day Friday, — too stormy to enjoy being on deck much. 
At about 5 p. M. we were trying to face the gale, stand- 
ing on the saloon deck watching the great swells 
breaking over the bow of the boat, with the clouds of 
spray covering everything, when one greater swell 
broke over the deck where we were standing; and before 
we regained our equilibrium a whirl of wind carried 



On the Pacific 17 



C. F.'s cap off into the sea, where it danced merrily 
away on the wave-tops, toward Chicago. It has been 
by far the roughest sea we have ever seen. 

To-day, Saturday, it is not quite so bad, though still 
quite rough. We are told that it is always rough along 
the coast of Japan. 

We expect to reach Yokohama to-morrow morning, 
so will have all our letters and postals ready to-day 
to mail there, and I will tell of our finish of this voyage 
and of our landing, in my first Japan letter. 



II 

Japan 

MiYANosHiTA, Japan, Octobcr 29, 191 3. 

We have been in Japan for more than a week, and 
this is my first chance to even begin a letter. But we 
have been in this lovely place long enough to get well 
rested, and I have a whole long evening in our room 
with a nice fire in an open grate; so I will recount some 
of our experiences since leaving the steamer. 

I keep a diary of every day's doings, and have all 
the places and facts in order, so you can depend upon 
them as correct, — as nearly as we can get them. We 
have a native guide with our party, who met us in 
Yokohama and will be with us during our entire tour 
of Japan. He is an educated man, and seems to be 
well informed as to his country, and is my authority 
in most of my statements. I am taking four carbon 
copies of this as I write, so will send the same letter to 
several of you. 

On the morning after I finished my last letter, we 
were at our cabin window as soon as it was light, to 
look for land, and found we were right among the 
islands off the coast of Japan. We were soon on deck, 
that we might not miss any of the sights of the approach 
to the harbor of Yokohama. Quite a while before we 
reached the harbor proper, we passed three strongly 
fortified forts, on high points of three different islands 

18 



Japan 19 

a little way apart. Outside of the entrance stood a 
number of warships: two German, one English, and 
a small one flying the Stars and Stripes. Just after we 
passed them the usual "doctor" came on board, and 
we were lined up in the dining saloon for his inspec- 
tion; then on deck again as we came into the harbor. 
We had breakfast before the doctor arrived, however. 

The "Mongolia" anchored a little way from the pier, 
and we came ashore in the Grand Hotel launch, — the 
different hotels send their own launches to meet pas- 
sengers, just as they send a bus in most cities. 

At the dock each got into a jinrikisha for the ride 
to the hotel. The riksha — as I shall call it for short 
— is a little two-wheeled carriage drawn by a man, 
and one feels very foolish and conspicuous in it for 
the first ride. But we soon got used to them, — except 
seeing the man doing the work of a horse. 

After getting settled at the hotel we went out for a 
walk, and after tiffin we all started out in rikshas for 
an afternoon of sight-seeing. The riksha is about the 
only way of getting about in Yokohama, except in 
street cars, — and tourists are not expected to ride with 
the common people. There are a few automobiles in 
the city also. 

Yokohama is not a beautiful city, but it is a very 
important commercial city, being the port of Tokyo, 
which is only an hour's ride to the north. It is the 
most important port, Kobe being a close second, 
near the southern end of the island. But the bay and 
harbor are beautiful. We were interested in the 



20 Glimpses of Many Lands 

myriads of little fishing boats out in the bay, — more 
little sailboats in sight at one time than I had seen 
in all the rest of my life, — funny little flatboats with 
a large, oblong, upright sail in the middle, and a 
smaller square one toward each end. 

We found the city gaily decorated for their great 
Industrial Exposition, which is held once in twenty 
years. Theater Street was alive with people, and 
gorgeous with decorations. The people, all on foot, 
seemed to be mostly women and children. There 
were literally swarms of them all over the street, as 
they do not have many sidewalks, and do not seem to 
use what they have. The women — and many little 
boys and girls — carry the babies on their backs, 
fastened there by a sort of scarf wound around. It 
was pitiful to see the poor little things hanging on to 
their forlorn position so patiently, — for we never heard 
one cry, — not one, I think. Some were asleep, with 
their heads hanging over most uncomfortably. 

The chief thing of interest at the exposition was 
the elaborate exhibit of such wonderfully beautiful 
embroideries, — beautiful and intricate beyond com- 
prehension. Another interesting thing was the ex- 
hibit of shoes, such as the people wear, — a flat piece of 
wood with two little flat pieces underneath to keep 
them up off the ground, and a cord or strap across the 
front through which the toes are stuck. Of course, 
there are many different colors and kinds of wood, 
with different prices and degrees of elegance. One of 
the funniest things is the clattering noise made by a 



Japan 21 

whole streetful of people wearing them. The admis- 
sion to the exposition was only ten sen, or five cents 
of our money. 

The next morning we began the task of visiting 
Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines, and ancestral halls. 
I say ta^k, for it has already become monotonous, and 
is likely to be genuine hard work before we are through 
with it. I will not take the time here to speak par- 
ticularly of those in Yokohama, as those seen later 
were much more interesting. But we learned a lot 
of new things — for us — about Buddhism, — among 
them, that there are 80 million images for Buddhists 
to worship. 

Our trip took us through many closely built up 
residence streets of the middle-class people, and some 
good business streets. We stopped at some fine stores, 
full of beautiful things, and made a few purchases. 
In the afternoon we took another long ride, through 
the best residence part up on the bluff, where the 
Americans and English all live; then farther on, to 
the bluff overlooking Mississippi Bay, where Com- 
modore Perry landed in 1853, — ^which caused the open- 
ing of Japan to the world, and made it what it now is. 
Then back by a different route, through a fishing vil- 
lage. Had our white suits fitted after we got back 
to the hotel; and after dinner all went out again in 
rikshas, to see the town at night. I mention all these 
particulars that you may see how almost every minute 
of our time is occupied, and what a really strenuous 
life it is, after three weeks of idleness on a steamer. 



22 Glimpses of Many Lands 

The following day we did numerous unimportant 
things in the morning, and at 10:30 all left for Tokyo, 
where we arrived in about an hour. Automobiles 
were waiting for our party, and we were soon comfort- 
ably settled at the Imperial Hotel, and after tiffin all 
went out in rikshas for a most interesting afternoon. 

The first part of the trip was through a very broad, 
well-paved, modern street, with double car-tracks and 
wide space on each side; with electric cars of up-to-date 
style whirring along in each direction, so that we had 
to think hard to realize we were not in an American 
city. Presently we left this street, and were soon at 
Shiba Park and the temple grounds. The park used 
to be all included in the temple grounds; but now the 
larger part is a public park, free to all, just as our 
parks are. 

We left the rikshas and walked up a long hill, then 
up a series of flights of high stone steps, to the first 
Shogun temple. (The Shoguns were the real rulers of 
Japan for several hundred years, while the emperor 
was only a figurehead.) We were supposed to take 
off our shoes when we entered a temple; but to save the 
trouble they allowed us to slip on covers which were 
provided. Up on this high place to which we had 
climbed, were several Shogun temples, tombs, and an- 
cestral halls which we went through most faithfully, 
and had much of the ancestral and Buddhist worship 
explained to us by our guide. He had a priest open 
and show us "the holy book"; saw people kneel and 
pray to a stone that had dogs, cats, insects, a dead 



Japan 23 

Buddha, and all sorts of figures carved on it; and other 
strange and heathenish things. 

The temples were once very beautiful specimens of 
Japanese art, no doubt, — elaborately carved and high- 
ly colored, — but they are now, like the religions they 
stand for, going to decay. The government has not 
the money to keep them up — even if they would — and 
the priests have not the power over the people that 
they used to have. So the temples are fast becoming 
a relic of the past. 

After the temples, the rikshas took us to the Maple 
Leaf Tea House, a very large and beautiful one, on a 
high bluff, overlooking a lovely lake in Shiba Park, 
where we were served with tea and confections, by 
three pretty little Japanese girls dressed in bright 
colored kimonos. 

From there we went through several good business 
streets with fine modern buildings, and were made to 
feel that Tokyo, the capital of the nation, a city of 
over a million people, is really a great city. Its gov- 
ernment buildings are all fine and quite modern. 

Continuing our ride, we came to the Imperial palace 
grounds, which are surrounded by three moats, and 
inside the second moat a high stone wall with double 
gates. We were allowed to cross the bridge over the 
second moat, and go through the first gate, which is 
310 years old, having been built in 1603. The public 
is not admitted beyond the wall, nor allowed to see 
the palace. After a ride through another large public 
park, which used to be a part of the palace grounds, 



2.4 Glimpses of Many Lands 

we reached the hotel tired and hungry. Had dinner 
at 7 o'clock, and at 8:15 started out in open carriages, 
with our conductor and guide, for a trip to the night 
city of Yoshiwara, — the indescribable city of inde- 
scribable evil. Got back at 10:30, with eyes too wide 
open, and nerves too unstrung, to go to sleep very soon. 

The next morning we went first to a Shinto shrine 
where the emperor worships, and which is now dedi- 
cated to the spirits of the soldiers who died in the last 
war. It was a great holiday, as the emperor was ex- 
pected to return — after an absence of a week! Every- 
thing was gaily decorated, and the streets were alive 
with marching soldiers and sailors and swarms of 
school children, — and a general good time on. Next 
we went to the University of Tokyo, and through the 
grounds. It has 300 acres of ground and 20 buildings; 
and has over 3000 students registered this fall. 

From there to Uyeno Park, where one object of in- 
terest was a cedar tree planted by our General U. S. 
Grant, in 1879; ^^so a magnolia tree planted by Mrs. 
Grant at the same time. They are both fenced and 
labeled, and look very thrifty. Finished the morning 
by going through a great military museum, full of 
trophies from the Russians in the last war. 

When we started out in the afternoon we joined the 
multitude on the street corner, and saw the Emperor 
of Japan, as he came from the depot in his carriage, 
on his way to the palace. Soldiers were lined up on 
both sides of the whole route, and as his carriage passed 
they all stood at " attention," other men took off their 



Japan 25 

hats, and there was not a word spoken or a sound made. 
I don't think the soldiers even winked. 

Then we went to the largest Buddhist temple we 
had yet seen, but there was nothing pretty or even 
interesting about it. Crowds of people kept coming 
all the time, and, after going through some bowing 
and forms of prayer, would throw their money into the 
receptacle provided for it, and go away, having done 
their duty. There is no regular service for the people 
in a Buddhist temple, — it is come, and go, and wor- 
ship, when you choose. 

Our last event of the afternoon was a visit to a 
chrysanthemum show. It was interesting, but nothing 
specially good except the floral designs. 

From Tokyo we went north about 100 miles, to 
Nikko, an interesting railroad ride through rice fields 
and gardens, the first half of the way, then climbing 
and winding up among the mountains the rest of the 
time; — for Nikko is a mountain resort, and the em- 
peror's favorite summer palace is there. It is also the 
"head" of the church — if Buddhism can be called a 
church. 

The temples here are many and wonderful, and 
many million dollars have been spent on them and 
the tombs and images and all that pertains to them. 
The temple grounds are vast and beautiful, and the 
avenues of great cryptomerias, hundreds of years old, 
awe one with their grandeur. 

As I said, Nikko is among the mountains, and it is 
climbing everywhere. But as the temple grounds are 



. 26 Glimpses of Many Lands 

all hills, we climbed stone steps until we could go no 
longer; and even a "thunder god" or a "wind god" 
could not move us any farther. 

The second day there we spent in an excursion to 
Lake Chuzenji, — about three miles in a straight line, 
but nine miles by the zigzig route one has to take. We 
went in rikshas with three men for each — one "pullee" 
and two "pushee" for each person. It was a great 
ride, — and climb, — the lake being 2500 feet higher 
than Nikko, and the scenery was fine. We had to 
stop often for the men to rest, and at three tea-houses 
for them — and us — to have tea. Had tiffin at a resort 
hotel at the lake, and made an all-day trip of it. The 
next day did more temples, and in the afternoon re- 
turned to Yokohama. 

The next day was Sunday, and we went to the union 
church service in the morning. There we met a Mr. 
McKenzie — cousin of some people in our church at 
home — and took him to the hotel to tiffin with us, 
then went home with him to dinner that evening. Had 
an elaborate nine-course dinner, with coffee served 
after, in the living-room. 

Monday morning we went to Mr. McKenzie's office, 
and from a dozen or more samples selected a pattern 
for a forty-two-piece tea set, which he will have made 
and sent home for us. 

Left Yokohama at 10 a. m. by rail, for Kamakura, 
a summer resort on the coast, about sixteen miles 
south. There we took rikshas to all places of interest. 
Kamakura was the capital of Japan and a city of a 



I 



Japan 27 

million people, in the days of the first Shoguns; now 
it is simply a rather interesting summer resort, with 
about 15,000 inhabitants and some old relics. The 
chief object of interest is the Dia Butsu, or Great 
Buddha — an immense bronze figure out among the 
shrubbery and trees, without any temple or covering 
whatever. The temple in which it once stood was 
washed away by the great tidal wave which swept the 
coast in 1494. Later, another temple was built over 
the Dia Butsu, and that was destroyed by a hurricane. 
Then the people said, "The Great Buddha is angry. 
He wishes no covering save the heavens." So they 
never attempted another temple. The figure of bronze 
is a massive head and bust, 49^^ feet high, and was 
made in 1252. The grounds in which it stands are 
very beautiful and well kept. On the gate-pillar, 
where we entered, are these words, in English: 
"Stranger, whosoever thou art, and whatsoever be 
thy creed, when thou enterest this sanctuary, remem- 
ber thou treadest upon holy ground, hallowed by the 
worship of ages. This is the temple of Buddha, and 
the gate of the Eternal, and should therefore be en- 
tered with reverence." A very good lesson for us 
irreverent Americans, we thought. 

After tiffin we had a stroll on the beach and picked 
up a few shells, and at 3 p. m. boarded the train for 
Miyanoshita. 

The railroad runs within sight of the ocean most of 
the way for the first hour, through tiny fields and garden 
patches, and to the right, in the distance, the moun- 



28 Glimpses of Many Lands 

tains. At Kodzu we left the train, and found two 
automobiles waiting to take us up the mountains to 
this place — about 2000 feet altitude. And here began 
the most thrilling, hair-raising ride it has ever been our 
privilege to enjoy. The first half-hour, winding along 
the base of the hills, was through closely built villages 
— one after another — along one narrow, crooked, wind- 
ing street, full of men, women, children, babies, and 
vehicles of all sorts. It had -begun to rain, and the 
road was getting slippery; but we flew along, turning, 
twisting, and climbing, with two horns tooting. Then 
the engine took a spell of some kind, and began pound- 
ing, and finally refused to go any farther. But the 
driver got out and worked with it a little while, and 
it started again all right. We left the main road and 
the villages, and then began the real climb, — up, and 
up, and still up, — climbing, winding, and doubling, 
with great gorges and chasms yawning below, with 
the rain still falling, the horn tooting continuously, 
and it growing dark! We had no ray of light for the 
last half-hour except that given from the lamps of 
the machine, and that was not much. But we finally 
reached the Fujiya Hotel, and found it most beautiful 
and comfortable: the table the best we have had 
yet, — the cooking almost like home. The service is 
fine, too, the waiters being pretty Japanese maidens 
dressed in dainty kimonos and bright-colored obis. 
This is the first time we have had girls, as there were 
men in all the city hotels. The garden of the hotel 
is full of many kinds of flowers, — more varieties and 



Japan 29 

colors of dahlias than I ever saw before in all my life, 
put together. They were on all the dining tables, and 
massed in all the living-rooms. Miyanoshita is called 
the beauty spot of Japan, and it certainly deserves 
the name. This hotel, the Fujiya, is said to be the 
finest in Japan, and it certainly is all right. 

Yesterday we took a trip to Lake Hakone, a moun- 
tain lake about 1300 feet higher than this place. The 
mode of conveyance was a novelty again. Each rode 
in a Sedan chair carried on the shoulders of four men — 
thirty- two men to take a party of eight! It was a 
funny sight, and a novel experience. But the trip was 
a good deal of a disappointment, as it rained a little, 
and coming back we were above the clouds most of 
the time and could not see anything. Going over, 
the sun shone a part of the time and the clouds lifted 
so that we could enjoy the near-by scenery, but we 
were disappointed in not getting a view of Fujiyama, 
as we had expected. The trip took all day, and we 
had tiffin at a hotel at the lake. Hakone is another 
famous resort. To-day has been bright and beauti- 
ful, and just warm enough to be perfect. In the fore- 
noon we took an on-foot climb up a mountain called 
Fuji-view. On the summit we had a glorious view of 
the valleys on both sides, with the ocean on one side, 
and Fujiyama on the other. It was very clear, and 
we had a fine view of Fuji all the last half of the climb. 
It is just as symmetrical and beautiful as it is always 
pictured. It is twenty miles distant, but did not seem 
more than two or three. Climbed down the mountain, 



30 . Glimpses of Many Lands 

and reached the hotel just in time to hear the bell 
calling to the dining-room — a most welcome sound, for 
we were hungry as bears. 

After tiffin our guide went with us to a public school. 
We visited a number of rooms in which were both 
girls and boys, seated on benches with desks similar 
to our old-style ones. The thing which impressed us 
most was the excellent order and respectful atten- 
tion. Education is compulsory in Japan, and they 
say that over 90 per cent of the children of school age 
are in school. Later we took a riksha ride up the 
course of a rugged stream, where the maple foliage was 
gorgeous. 

We leave here to-morrow morning, but we will take 
Miyanoshita and the Fujiya Hotel with us as one of 
our pleasantest memories. 



I 



Ill 

Japan 

Kyoto, Japan, November 9, 191 3. 

This is our sixth day in Kyoto, and as we have seen 
it pretty thoroughly, I will devote this last evening 
here to my carbon-copy letter of events up to date. 

The morning after my last letters were mailed, we 
left Miyanoshita for the same ride down the mountain 
which we had taken up it; but this was not nearly so 
thrilling, as it was daylight and the sun shone. But 
we had a much better opportunity to enjoy the scenery, 
which was fine. At Kodzu we went aboard "the 
limited" — the best train in Japan — and had tiffin in 
the diner. It was an interesting six-hours' ride through 
the country, and in full view of Fuji for several hours. 
Arrived at Nagoya at four o'clock, and as soon as we 
were settled at the hotel, all went out in the usual 
rikshas, to the chrysanthemum show, which was better 
than the one in Tokyo. These "shows" are different 
from ours in our park conservatories, as they not only 
have the displays of choice varieties in groups, but they 
also have growing plants trained into all manner of 
shapes, — people, automobiles, jinrikshas, boats, bicy- 
cles, etc., — all in growing plants covered with hundreds 
of blooms. They were most wonderful, as showing the 
artistic skill with which the Japanese handle and arrange 
flowers. This is one of the arts taught in their schools. 

31 



32 . Glimpses of Many Lands 

The next morning we went out early to see the 
town, as we were to have only one day there. Nagoya 
is a city of 400,000 people, and they seemed to all be 
on the street, so that our riksha men had to push their 
way through the throng, in some places. We soon 
learned that it was a very great holiday, — the emperor*s 
birthday, — and everybody was going to the parade 
ground to see a review of 12,000 soldiers, — they are 
very proud of their military since they made big 
Russia bow to little Japan. We allowed ourselves to 
be carried along with the crowd, and we also wit- 
nessed the review. It was a fine and most impressive 
sight. But even more impressive was the sight of the 
150,000 people gathered to witness it. The quiet- 
ness, respectful obedience to law, and general good 
order of the immense throng, was worthy of imitation 
by nations which call themselves great powers. It 
took only a comparatively few police to handle them, 
while the same sized crowd in America would have 
needed a thousand police, — and even then they would 
often be a howling mob. Yes, there are many things 
that even great America might learn from courteous 
Japan. 

But the thing of chief interest in Nagoya — the one 
which took us there — is the castle of the golden 
dolphins. It was built in 1610, — walled, with heavy 
gates, and two deep moats which are dry now and 
grown full of vegetation. It is a five-story, pagoda- 
shaped thing, and we climbed the stairs to the top, for 
the view. It was supposed to be impregnable in its 



Japan 33 

day, but would not withstand much of the present- 
day instruments of warfare. The golden dolphins 
ornament the two ends of the "comb," or ridge of the 
roof. They are of bronze, and in the days of its glory 
were covered with gold a quarter of an inch thick, and 
weigh 360 pounds each, — there are two of them. The 
imperial palace is near by, in the same enclosure, and 
used to be one of the favorite palaces of the emperors, 
but is not used now. It is chiefly interesting from the 
very old paintings decorating the walls. They are 
said to be very artistic and wonderful, but am afraid 
I did not fully appreciate them. All the outer halls 
of this palace have bare floors which squeak when 
stepped upon, and were made so that no one could 
approach the emperor's apartments without being 
heard. It is called "the nightingale floor." 

From the palace we rode, through streets swarming 
with people, to a very large Buddhist temple where 
many candles were burning, and a priest was making 
noises, — presumably worship. This was the nearest 
like the Roman Catholics of anything we had seen. 
I mention all these things to show how we are studying 
the country, as our guide is very well informed, and 
explains things very intelligently, and one gets much 
of the history of a country through its temples and 
palaces; and the condition of them all shows con- 
clusively that a new era has dawned on Japan. 

On our way back to the hotel the crowd was not so 
dense, and we had a chance to observe that there were 
not so many babies carried on backs, and that baby 



34 - Glimpses of Many Lands 

buggies were quite the fashion there. In nearly every 
buggy there were two babies, sometimes three — not 
twins, but near-twins, the baby and the next older. 
We also noted more bicycles there than in all other 
cities together. 

The latter part of the afternoon we continued our 
journey, going a four-hours' ride to the south to 
Yamada. Yamada-in-Ise, it is called, but please do 
not ask me what that means, for I was not able to 
grasp the meaning; only to guess that it had something 
to do with a very sacred shrine nearby, in the name of 
which the "Ise" appears. It is called the most sacred 
spot in Japan, — the shrine of the very sacred sun- 
goddess, the ancestress of the present line of emperors. 
Shintoism teaches that the sun-goddess actually begat 
the first emperor, and that the line of succession has 
never been broken, and for this reason the emperor is 
regarded as a deity by the devout Shinto. Our guide 
said, "Oh, yes! we believe it, but I don't." 

Yamada is of no importance except to furnish a 
stopping place for the many pilgrims who visit this 
shrine. The hotel — the Gonikai — is the first real 
Japanese hotel we have been in, and even it is furnished 
a little to conform to the customs of foreign travel. 
For instance, we had bedsteads and chairs in our rooms, 
— real Japanese homes have not. Our only heat was 
from some coals brought into the room in a sort of pot, 
or stone jar. 

Our trip to the sacred shrine took us out a beautiful, 
well-kept road, as fine as any city boulevard, but the 



Japan 35 

vehicles on it are not in keeping with its modern aspect. 
For instance, we saw two loaded rice-carts, each drawn 
by a man and two dogs, and pushed by a woman with 
a baby on her back. 

On our return trip we took a long ride in the coun- 
try, through narrow paths among the rice fields, where 
we saw the country people right in the midst of their 
work and their homes. It was just the rice harvest, 
and we saw hundreds of men, women, and boys, stand- 
ing in water and mud, and cutting it all with tiny 
sickles, by hand. Then it is threshed and winnowed 
by hand, and drawn to market in two-wheeled carts, 
by hand — usually by men, but often by boys, and 
sometimes by women, — or by a combination such as 
already described. 

The next day was Sunday, and there was no place 
to attend church in Yamada, so we sat out in the 
sunshine the most of the forenoon, and about noon 
took a train for Nara. It was a four-hours' ride, 
through mountains, valleys, and rice fields, and gave 
us more of a sight of the country. The Nara Hotel 
belongs to the railroad, and is a beautiful new building. 
The inside woodwork is all of ivory cedar, — the natural 
wood rubbed to the most exquisite soft finish. The 
mantel in the lobby is in the form of a Shinto gate, 
with a most perfect finish of red lacquer. We had a 
lovely room, with a fireplace and a bath. 

Nara has temples galore, of course, and we went to 
some of them, but the thing of greatest interest there 
is the large park with its immense trees, and contain- 



36 - Glimpses of Many Lands 

ing over three thousand tame deer, — sacred deer, they 
call them, and as no one ever molests them, they are 
so tame that they gather around us to eat out of 
our hands. There are women who earn a good liv- 
ing by selling little cakes of meal, at two sen (one 
cent) a bunch, for tourists, and other visitors, to feed 
the deer. 

There were not quite so many temples as deer, 
but there were so many we did not try to count them, 
and more stone lanterns than we had seen anywhere 
before. They say there are three thousand of them 
in the temple grounds, and besides the stone ones, a 
thbusand bronze hanging ones, which are hundreds of 
years old. 

Here we saw the great temple bell, which is 133^ 
feet high, 9^ feet in diameter, 8 inches thick, and 
weighs 54 tons. In one of the temples is another Dia 
Butsu which is larger and more hideous than the one 
at Kamakura. 

In the afternoon we went back to the park, to watch 
the last half of the field-day exercises of the Nara 
high school. The sports were good, and were so well 
carried out — with such splendid order and discipline — 
that we felt their schools would be a credit to any 
nation; while their enthusiasm, and "rooting" for 
their own class colors and success, was equal to a 
Chicago U. crowd. 

After the games we went to the chrysanthemum 
exhibit, in the clubhouse grounds, — also in the park. 
They were all growing outside, and beautifully massed 



Japan 37 

in different colors and shades, in variously shaped 
beds. 

From Nara we came to Kyoto, which was to be head- 
quarters for six days, though we were to take several 
trips out. On the way here we came through one of 
the principal tea-growing sections of Japan, where 
tea was first introduced from China, and where the 
best tea is now grown, — about ten miles north of this 
city, near Uji. 

Kyoto is like every other city, — only a bit more 
typically Japanese than some; miles and miles of 
closely built up, narrow streets; the same crowds of 
people — like bees swarming; the same swarms of 
children; the same countless women with babies on 
their backs; and the same weary men hauling heavy 
loads. Practically all the traffic is carried on by men 
and boys, hauling on carts. Once in a great while we 
see an ox or a horse hauling a load, but they are few. 
As we have said of their farming, so of everything else, 
— it is like their embroidery, — all hand work. We 
have been at the factories of Satsuma ware, cloisonne, 
Damascene ware, silk embroidery, brocade goods, and 
china, and it is all hand work and hand decoration. 
And such marvelously beautiful work as these people 
can do! One often stands speechless for lack of ad- 
jectives with which to exclaim. 

Two trips out from Kyoto are worth recording. 
The first was to Lake Biwa, about six miles out, among 
the mountains, by riksha. There we had a picnic 
lunch (brought from the hotel) on the shore of the 



38 , Glimpses of Many Lands 

lake, then boarded a small steamer which took us to 
the lower end of the lake, where we got into a sampan 
to come back to the city, under the mountains. Sounds 
rather strange, doesn't it? But a "sampan" is a big 
rowboat, and it can go under the mountains because 
there are tunnels through them for the canal. So, 
you see it is easy when you know how. The canal 
takes the water of Lake Biwa under three mountains, 
through three tunnels, into and traversing the city of 
Kyoto, making an important route of travel and trade. 
The first tunnel is about three quarters of a mile long; 
the second 400 feet, and the third, a half-mile. Be- 
tween the tunnels the canal goes through fine mountain 
scenery. The trip was an unusual one and very 
interesting. 

The other excursion was by railroad, twelve miles 
out among the mountains. The road was through a 
most picturesque country, — through the valley, or 
more correctly the gorge, of a winding, rushing moun- 
tain river, — the Hodzu. 

We left the train, and came back down the river in 
boats much like sampans, — two for the party. Each 
boat was manned by four men, — one in the front 
with a heavy bamboo pole, to steer; two on one side," 
each with one oar; and one in the stern, with a broad 
oar to use as a sort of rudder. And the way we came 
down the rapids of that river was thrilling, to say the 
least. The fall is 350 feet in eight miles, and in one 
place it is six feet at a jump. The scenery on both 
sides is fine, but we hadn't much time to devote to 



Japan 39 

it, as the ride took all our time and attention. We left 
the boat at the end of the rapids, and went up on the 
bluff, where we had a glorious view of the river, and the 
hills covered with the flaming beauty of the maples, 
and there had another picnic dinner; after which we 
took a ten-minutes' walk to a street-car line, and rode 
in a car for two miles. This is the first time we had 
been in a street car in Japan, though all the cities have 
them. This was in the country; and at a station at 
the edge of the city we were met by the riksha boys, 
who took us back to the hotel. Note the different 
modes of travel in one excursion. 

Another of the interesting experiences we have had 
here was the Japanese dinner at a teahouse, with 
geisha girls as entertainers. We wisely had our reg- 
ular dinner at the hotel at the usual hour, however, 
and the "entertainment" at 8 o'clock. We were all 
dressed in our best clothes, the men in their dinner 
suits. We had to take off our shoes at the inner door, 
and all sat on the floor around the room, on cushions. 
The dinner was served on little, individual, low tables, 
like an ordinary footstool. Here is the menu: First, 
a tiny cup of tea; then fish soup, served in a bowl which 
you were supposed to take up in your hands, and drink 
the soup; a plate of boiled fish with a sauce; another 
plate of raw fish served with some kind of syrup in 
a tiny cup; a dish of boiled rice without salt, sugar, or 
milk; a dish of fried fish; a cup of sauke (a rice wine); 
and a tiny dish of small rice confections. These were 
all served one at a time, but all left on the table as one 



40 Glimpses of Many Lands 

course. The entire "dinner" of rice and fish! Chop- 
sticks were furnished, with which we were expected 
to eat. 

While we were supposed to be eating, the geisha girls 
entertained (?) us with what is called music and danc- 
ing. The dancing was simply a lot of graceful physical 
culture movements; and the "music" was made by 
four crude drums and two stringed instruments, 
accompanied by weird vocal sounds. The only thing 
one could compare it with was a lot of cats on the 
garden fence. The entertainment was interesting as 
seeing something new in their customs; but no sane 
person would desire to go a second time. 

Sunday we went to the Doshisha University to two 
morning church services, — the first a native church 
with native pastor, and service all in Japanese; and 
though we could not understand the sermon, we did 
enjoy the singing; for it showed that they can make 
music — real harmony — when they know how; and 
our old church tunes sounded good even though sung 
with foreign words. There are eight native churches 
with native pastors in the city. Then we went to the 
union church service, held in one hall of the univer- 
sity, where the service was in English, and there met 
a few missionaries, and learned what we could of the 
mission work in the city. Doshisha is a Christian 
university, almost self-supporting, and has 874 stu- 
dents enrolled this fall. Doshisha means "union," 
or "together," which shows that though the school is 
Christian, it is undenominational. It is governed by 



Japan 41 

twenty trustees, seventeen of whom are native and 
three are American. We also went through the Kyoto 
University buildings and grounds. It is a national, 
and not a Christian, school. 

I think I have not mentioned the temples and palaces 
of Kyoto, but do not for a moment think there are 
none, for both are much in evidence; but I think I am 
getting weary of writing of them, as well as seeing them. 
One here, said to be the largest in Japan, is really quite 
beautiful, and somewhat modern in decoration, as it 
was built only thirty years ago. Then there is the 
palace of the ex-emperor which has a very large and 
beautiful garden — a great park full of immense old 
trees. Near by is the palace which is occupied by 
the present emperor when it suits his pleasure to stop 
in this city. We were not admitted to this, but were 
admitted to the imperial castle, which is also a palace, 
only interesting for the paintings on the screen walls. 

We expect to leave here to-morrow, and I will finish 
my story of Japan in my next. 



IV 

JapaUy Korea, and China 

Peking, China, November 22, 1914. 

It is two weeks since I mailed my last letters, and 
now I am going to spend my evenings in trying to 
make my story catch up with our train, — for our 
evenings are our only leisure time since we are on land. 

The day after my last was finished, — (it seems so 
long ago, and so many miles distant!) — we left Kyoto 
early for Osaka, only a little more than an hour's ride; 
and though Osaka is a city of nearly a million people, 
we stayed there only that part of a day, as it had nothing 
of special interest to the usual tourist or sight-seer. 
It is a great manufacturing city, and is most interest- 
ing from that viewpoint to those who are studying 
the new era in Japan, and it has been called the Bir- 
mingham of Japan, with its great factories and tower- 
ing chimneys. Here we begin to find work done by 
machinery, and a city of progress, very prosperous 
and clean-looking. 

We spent the day riding about the city, and to the 
Castle of Osaka, — a fort with high stone walls, and two 
deep moats, built in 1468. It is said to be the oldest 
castle in Japan. We went inside, and to the top, where 
we had a fine view of the city and its smoke-stacks. 

Of course we saw the temples, too, — five hundred of 
them in one temple area. Here we saw another great 

42 



Japan, Korea, and China 43 

bell, "said to be" the largest in the world. It stands 
on a platform, and is 26 feet high, 54 feet in circum- 
ference, 16 feet in diameter, i}4 feet thick, and weighs 
114 tons. It was made only eleven years ago, — in 
1902, — as a sort of thank-offering by the people for 
their prosperity. The metal was all given by the 
people, — over a million of them, — who gave anything 
of any kind of metal they had, even silver hairpins, 
rings, etc. 

It is only about an hour's ride to Kobe and we 
reached there in time for dinner at the fine, large, 
modern hotel, — the Oriental. Kobe is a city of nearly 
half a million, the most important seaport of Japan, 
— though I think I stated that it was second to Yoko- 
hama. But I have since learned my mistake, and 
here correct it. 

It is the most modern, cleanest, and best built city 
we have yet seen. It is surrounded by mountains on 
all sides except the harbor, — an arm of Osaka Bay, — 
and is the port of Osaka, just as Yokohama is the port 
of Tokyo. All the foreign residences are out on the 
lower slope of the mountains. There are a good 
many Americans there, and the city has a fine 
Y. M. C. A. building. 

We stayed there two days, then took the train for 
an eight-hour ride along the Inland Sea to the sacred 
island of Miyajima, where we stayed a day and a night. 
It is so sacred that neither horse, carriage, or riksha is 
allowed on it, so we did not travel about much. There 
was no place to travel to, anyway, and no way to get 



44 Glimpses of Many Lands 

to it if it were there, except to climb steep hills; for the 
island is just an upheaval in the sea, and very rugged, 
and is really very beautiful. The maples were just 
at their best in color, and some of the hillsides were 
gorgeous. 

As I said, it is a sacred island, — so sacred that, 
according to their custom, no one is allowed to be 
bom or to die there, and no animal is allowed on the 
island except the sacred deer. So of course the 
temples are the chief things of interest. In fact, the 
island is inhabited — or occupied — chiefly by Buddhas, 
temples, priests, and stone lanterns, — the latter all 
along the shore for quite a distance. At night we all 
went out on the water in a sampan to see the shore 
"illuminated" by them, — each has a tiny oil and wick 
light. In the afternoon we saw a sacred dance by an 
old Shinto priest, dressed in an indescribable costume. 
He wore a falseface like a hideous fox with a grin on, 
and he went through a lot of grotesque movements 
with his hands and feet, accompanied by what they 
call music, on a drum and sort of pipe, by two men 
arrayed in the white robes of Shinto priests. 

The performance was called the "No dance," and 
we decided it was appropriately named. It probably 
meant something to them, but it certainly looked very 
foolish, to be done in the name of any religion. There 
is a very large red torii (the name for the Shinto 
gate) in the water, a few yards from the shore, and 
at their great festivals the boats come through this to 
the temple. Everything seems a conglomerate mix- 



Japan, Korea, and China 45 

ture of Buddhism and Shintoism, and I cannot untangle 
them. 

There is a tourist hotel on the island (it is not 
sacred), and it runs a modern motor boat across to 
the railroad station. From there we took the train 
for Shimonoseki, our last stop in Japan, and the rest 
of our party returned to Kobe, where they took 
steamer for Manila, and we join them later. But we 
two, with a private guide, started for a three-weeks' 
tour of Korea and North China. 

We reached Shimonoseki, the port on the south- 
western side of the island, after dark, and went from 
the train direct to the steamer which was to take us 
across the channel which connects the Japan Sea and 
the Yellow Sea, to Fusan, Korea, a distance of eighty 
miles. 

It was a small steamer, but a new one, and clean and 
comfortable. We had a nice cabin, but the channel 
was very rough, and the boat tossed and rolled so badly 
that one had to hold on to the bunk; so we did not 
sleep much. Reached Fusan, the southeastern port of 
Korea, at 9 a. m., and were soon on board a good train 
with diner, on the Chosen Railroad. (Chosen is the 
new Japanese name for Korea.) 

The all-day ride through Korea was most interest- 
ing, — everything was different and new to us. Men, 
women, and children dressed in white; the men in 
close-fitting trousers and long white coats, with funny 
little hats; the women in baggy trousers and awfully 
full skirts, — like ours of the old hoop-skirt era; the boys 



46 Glimpses of Many Lands 

with their long hair in queues; the queer little huts with 
thatched roofs, — all were new and different. The coun- 
try was mountains and valleys, and was farmed with 
little patches of rice, much the same as Japan, though 
not nearly so well farmed or prosperous looking. 

There was an American on the train who had lived 
in Korea for twelve years and he told us manv things 
of interest. 

I think I have forgotten to mention that in Japan 
the farmer population all live in little villages, never 
alone on their little garden patch of a farm. This is 
true in Korea, also, and if there is a stony or poor 
piece of land to be found, that is chosen for the village, 
leaving the better land for cultivation. The moun- 
tains — not very high ones — are entirely without trees, 
only as the new Japanese enterprise is beginning to 
re-forest them; and it is an interesting sight to see many 
of them covered with tiny young evergreen trees. 

But the strangest sight, all along the route, was to 
see the lower slopes of all the hills covered with graves, 
— ^just large mounds, thousands and thousands of 
them, the whole day's journey, — very few of them 
marked by any stone, but just a continuation of huge 
mounds. One could only wonder that so many people 
had ever lived. But, as the man I referred to re- 
marked, "You know they have been dying in Korea 
for several thousand years." 

We saw several groups of white-dressed people 
having some kind of service, or sacrifice, at graves, — 
you know they are ancestor worshipers. 



Japan, Korea, and China 47 

It was after dark when we reached Seoul, but we 
were not tired after the all-day ride, for we had been 
so interested. We found the Sontag Hotel very com- 
fortable. Had a good room with bath, and the finest 
bed ever, — box springs and hair mattress 1 Sometimes 
we have to stop and — figuratively — ^" pinch ourselves" 
to try to realize that we really are around on the other 
side of the earth. 

We stayed in Seoul for two days and three nights, 
and wished we might have remained longer; for we 
liked Korea, and would like to have seen more of the 
evidences of its waking up from its sleep of two thou- 
sand years, — for it is waking, and is becoming Christian- 
ized more rapidly than any other nation. We were 
in Seoul over Sunday, and attended church service 
at one of the many native self-supporting churches. 
Were there at 10 o'clock, in time for the Bible school, 
for that is an important part of the church with Korean 
Christians, and the church was nearly as crowded for 
that as for the church service which followed. The 
preacher was very earnest and forceful, but of course 
we could not understand anything but the hymn tunes. 
But there seemed a deep spirit of earnestness and 
reverence among the large congregation present. In 
the afternoon we went to the Union church for foreign- 
ers, and met a good many Americans. The Y. M. C. A. 
has a good building in Seoul, and they are doing a 
great work there. 

From Seoul we went north a whole day's trip on a 
splendid express train to Mukden, Manchuria, the 



48 • Glimpses of Many Lands 

scene of the last battle of the Russian-Japanese War. 
The ride through the country was similar to the one 
already described. With the exception of the new 
Japanese part, Mukden is a typical old Chinese city, 
— "a bit of rare old China," some one has called it. 
We stopped at the new hotel in the new town, and 
even here we had a comfortable, steam-heated room 
with bath, and a good bed. 

The next morning after we arrived, we started out 
in a one-horse carriage, with our guide, for a drive of 
about five miles to the tomb of a great emperor; but 
the drive was chiefly interesting as a revelation of 
ancient Manchuria, — past many ancient carved mon- 
uments, along the old wall of the city, and through old 
graveyards covering hundreds of acres. Not grave- 
yards, either, but just great stretches of ground cov- 
ered with graves, — thousands of them, — ^just great 
dust-colored mounds, some very large, some smaller, 
covering all the ground as far as eye could reach. A 
few had stone markers, but most of them had no 
mark. Many had a vessel on top, in which we could 
see food — potatoes, rice, etc. — offered to the dead. 
Quite a good deal of the space was torn up and the 
graves still unfilled, while some of it was leveled down 
and the space used for farming. The government of 
Japan is encouraging the removing of the old remains 
and using the grounds. 

This explains much of the pottery and other things 
we see in the museums labeled, "From old tombs." 
A few years ago no government would have dared to 



Japan, Korea, and China 49 

suggest to these people to touch their most revered 
graves, — their most sacred possession, — but even 
Manchuria is waking up, and the same Light which 
is beginning to illuminate Korea is reaching Mukden 
also. There has been a great change in the sentiment 
of the people, and now the doors are wide open for the 
Christian religion. The governor of southern Man- 
churia erected a great hall at his own expense for 
evangelistic meetings, and just outside the wall of old 
Mukden we saw their big, beautiful "Religious As- 
sembly" building. 

We drove all through the old walled city, in the 
afternoon, and saw temples, palaces, and monuments 
of ages gone by, and many treasures of the time of the 
last emperor. But I did not like the old part. The 
palace grounds and buildings are very dirty and falling 
into decay. Mukden is by far the dirtiest, most 
ill-smelling place we have seen yet. It has old mud 
walls, mud houses, mud streets, clouds of dust, and 
about a million dirty-looking people. 

It is almost a twenty-four-hours' journey by train 
from Mukden to Peking, so we decided to break it by 
stopping for the night about midway, — at Shan-hai- 
Kwan, or Shanhaiquan, as it is sometimes written. 
This is on the shore of the Yellow Sea, at the point 
where the famous "Great Wall" of China began. We 
got up early, and took a trip to the wall before break- 
fast; and climbing up on it, we stood and looked out 
over the Yellow Sea, and had to rub our eyes to see 
whether we were really awake, or only dreaming. 



50 ' Glimpses of Many Lands 

There was nothing else of interest in Shan-hai-Kwan, 
so we resumed our journey at 9 o'clock. 

This day's ride took us through a fine farming 
country, with great stretches of wheat fields on either 
side, — and every field dotted with graves, the same 
kind of big mounds as already described. For one 
quite long distance we tried to estimate them, and 
decided that fully one tenth of the land was used for 
graves. Around Tientsin and Peking it was worse, — 
the ground seemed literally covered. Between Tientsin 
and Peking it is a fine farming country, — great plains 
covered with winter wheat just beginning to show 
green. The farmers here, also, all live in villages. 

Peking is most interesting, and in so many ways I 
hardly know how to begin to tell of it. It is the 
capital and second largest city of China, and has a 
population of over a million. It is four cities in one, — 
the old walled Tartar city, which includes the Imperial 
City and the Forbidden City; and outside of the walls 
the part called the Chinese city. 

The street life is full of novel sights, — cooking and 
eating in many places, along the sides of the street; 
all sorts of man-power vehicles with all sorts of loads; 
a caravan of camels loaded with coal or merchandise; 
and beggars innumerable. 

The native life in the poorer parts seems almost 
untouched by the new civilization, but in the better 
parts of the city one can see many signs of progress. 

For instance, C. F. attended a banquet in the dining- 
room of this hotel, last evening, — given by the Peking 



1 



Japan, Korea, and China 51 

College Club in honor of Ambassador Williams who 
is returning to America, and Dr. Paul Reinch, who is 
to be his successor, — at which there were seventy-five 
young Chinese in American evening dress, who were 
graduates of various universities and colleges in the 
United States. They made speeches in English, sang 
college songs, gave their college yells, and one would never 
have guessed he was in China if he had not seen their 
faces. The rest of the guests were either resident 
Americans, or tourists who were invited. C. F. re- 
ceived his invitation through Dr. Luther Anderson, 
correspondent of The Chicago Daily News, who, hav- 
ing seen our names on the hotel register as from Chi- 
cago, called upon us. He is going to bring his wife to 
see us to-morrow. 

The Legation quarters, or foreign part, is quite a 
modern city in itself. We have been all through the 
British legation quarters, within the walls of which 
the missionaries and other Christians were protected 
during the Boxer uprising. Near one corner of the 
outside of the wall, just above a lot of bullet holes, 
are Kipling's words, "Lest we forget," cut into the 
stone. 

There is no sign of rebellion here now, though they 
say it is only slumbering, and may break out at any 
time. The new president seems to be regarded as a 
strong man and capable of great things, — "the best 
of a bad lot," some one says. But he is afraid for his 
life, and never comes outside of the palace walls, and 
is closely guarded all the time, — soldiers on the walls, 



52 " Glimpses of Many Lands 

and a lookout in a basket upon the flagpole, just 
under the "New China" flag. 

Peking has its temples, also, and we have been to 
many of them, but will mention only two. The 
Temple of Heaven is called the most sacred spot in 
China, and is entirely different from anything we have 
yet seen, as it is not an enclosed building, but just a 
great circular pile of white marble, arranged in five 
terraces. We did not get the dimensions of it, but 
guess it to be at least a hundred feet in diameter at 
the bottom, each of the five circles being smaller, until 
at the top the circle is about twenty feet in diameter. 
It is ascended by five stairways — five steps to each 
terrace, — and each stairway and terrace has an elabo- 
rately carved and most beautiful railing, all of the 
snow-white marble. The railing around the top circle 
makes a sort of wall, so that when a person kneels in 
the center he cannot see anything but the sky, the 
railing making his horizon line. Hence the name, 
"Temple of Heaven." 

Here the emperor used to come on special occasions, 
or in great national emergencies, to pray to the gods. 
We heard that the grounds in which it stands, — several 
hundred acres, — have been taken by the new govern- 
ment to be used as an experimental farm. Let us 
hope that neither vandalism nor greed will be allowed 
to destroy this most beautiful temple of ancient reli- 
gions whose power is fast waning. 

The other one which interested us was the Lama 
Temple — the Thibetan Buddhist temple. It was simi- 



Japan, Korea, and China 53 

lar to those in Japan. Had a great Buddha image 
seventy-five feet high. But we were specially inter- 
ested in it from the fact that we had the good fortune 
to happen to visit it just in time to witness a special 
service by a roomful of priests, — from six years old 
up. They were each dressed in a red drapery when 
they came, and put on a yellow garment over it when 
they went into the worship room, where they sat on 
low stools and chanted, and made responses to a high 
priest who performed in front of them. 

The priests are the only Buddhists who have a 
general service in the temples; the people come at any 
time, and do their worshiping individually. 

On the way out we were followed by a swarm of 
beggar children, who kept up a chorus of noises and 
laughter. The beggars are everywhere, and follow one 
most persistently, and will not take no for an answer. 

We also visited a temple of Confucius, and the Hall 
of Classics, where the wisdom of Confucius is preserved 
by having his writings carved on great slabs of marble 
and kept in these halls. 

On the way back to the hotel we met a funeral 
procession — a large coffin on a sort of litter, covered 
with a gold-striped cloth; the litter carried by eight 
men on each side, and followed by a small company 
on foot, and some crude music. 

The hotels are generally very good, — much better 
than we had expected. However, we don't always 
enjoy the food. This is one of that kind. For in- 
stance, a Chinese hotel owned by English, under 



54 ' Glimpses of Many Lands 

Swiss management, with a French cook, and catering 
to American people is liable to get things a little 
mixed; and we enjoy plain food without mixtures. 
But it is "international" all right, and is called "The 
Grand Hotel des Wagons-Lits Internationale, Limited," 
which being interpreted means, "The Grand Hotel 
of the International Sleeping Car Co., Limited." 

But we are invited to a real home Thanksgiving 
dinner with a Mrs. Burns and her son, in Tientsin, 
and may go. Mrs. Burns is from Macomb, Illinois, 
and we got acquainted with her on the "Mongolia." 
She came over to spend the winter with her son, 
who is in business in Tientsin. 

We have had perfectly fine weather ever since we 
landed on this side of the Pacific, — ^just cool enough 
to be perfect, and sunshine nearly all the time, — 
several showers of rain, but not enough to inconve- 
nience us. We both keep well, and have not lost an 
hour on account of weather or illness. Will continue 
my Pekin story in my next, which will probably not 
be written until on the steamer trip south. 



V 
China 

On board the 

P. & O. Steamship "Assaye." 

On the China Sea, December 3, 1913. 

I am delighted to be able to write to you to-day, and 
to say that we are nearly twenty-four hours out from 
Shanghai, and are both able to do justice to every 
meal thus far. We are rather surprised, as the sea 
is really quite rough, — at least it looks so to us, though 
the boatmen all say, "O, no! it is perfectly smooth," 
and smile sweetly as they say it. However, there are 
great rolling swells, and the whole expanse is a mass of 
foamy white billows. But we do not care, so long as 
we feel as well as we do now. 

We left Shanghai at 6 o'clock last evening on a 
tender which took us to this boat, which was at Woo- 
sung, an hour and a half's ride down the Yang- tse-Kiang 
River. I presume many are under the same impression 
that we were, — that Shanghai is on the coast, — but it 
is not. It is about fifty miles up the wide mouth of 
the Yang-tse-Kiang. We expect to be three nights 
and two days en route to Hongkong. 

Shanghai is so different from all the rest of China 
that we have seen, that we could almost have been 
persuaded we were in America most of the time, 
until we went inside of the walls of the old native 

55 



56 Glimpses of Many Lands 

part, that is like China. But the European part is a 
modern city and quite pretty, — has broad streets 
paved with asphalt, high buildings, street cars, etc. 

The old part seems cleaner, and the people more 
civilized-looking, as they have come more in contact 
with foreigners. Here we visited the old "Willow 
Pattern" Tea House, used in the tableware decorations. 
It is over two hundred years old. Part of it looks 
quite like the pictures on our tableware, — the zigzag 
bridge being almost exactly the same. Near this we 
went through a "joss house," which is really a Bud- 
dhist temple, or "god house." Here we saw one large 
Buddha image, and many smaller joss, and one "lady 
joss." This temple is over four hundred years old, and 
very dirty. The streets are very narrow and crooked, 
— a good deal like "the path the calf made," — and it 
was hard to get through them. We had to leave the 
rikshas outside the walls. 

The new part is a great commercial city, principally 
English, French, and German, — but there are a few 
Americans. We were at the American consulate and 
the United States post office. You can mail a letter 
here to the United States for two cents. We took a 
long carriage drive through the foreign residence sec- 
tion, and found many beautiful homes with lovely 
large grounds. The climate is about like our southern 
states, as the magnolia and oleander grow here, and 
roses and other flowers were in bloom in profusion, 
while the vegetable gardens looked like ours in 
summer. 



China 57 



But I must return to where I finished my last letter, 
— at Peking, the evening before we took the trip to the 
Great Wall. We left Peking in the morning, by rail- 
road, and a short distance outside of the city our atten- 
tion was called to the fine buildings and grounds of 
the Ching Hua College, — the college built by a part 
of our United States indemnity money, which prepares 
young men for entrance to our universities. The ride 
was through a farming country for about an hour and a 
half to Nankow, then, climbing a steep grade, and 
winding among rugged mountains, to the Nankow 
Pass station, where we left the train and went a mile 
and a quarter farther in Sedan chairs, each carried 
by four men, to the Nankow Pass, where we climbed 
up and had quite a good picture taken on top of the 
Great Wall of China. We had been on the wall at 
Shan-hai-Kwan, and this was about the same, except 
that here we could see it for a long distance, as it fol- 
lowed the contour of the mountains, all along the 
crest. It is a marvelous work for men to have ac- 
complished with their hands. Came back to the 
station and, after a long, tedious wait, finally boarded 
the caboose of a freight train, and climbed down that 
grade a good deal slower than we climbed up, reaching 
Nankow at 7:35 p. m., having been two hours and 
twenty minutes going thirteen miles down hill! But 
it had been a great day. 

We stayed in Nankow that night at the Ching Er 
Hotel. It is a real Chinese hotel, but caters to Ameri- 
cans and is not bad. 



58 Glimpses of Many Lands 

Besides our guide, there were with us on this trip 
Mr. and Mrs. Manville, of Iowa. The following 
morning we all set out early — in Sedan chairs — for a 
trip to the Ming tombs, at the edge of the hill country, 
about ten miles from Nankow. 

These are the tombs of thirteen emperors of the 
Ming dynasty, and there is one at Nanking. I can- 
not describe this trip on paper to make one have a 
very good conception of it, I'm afraid. We swung 
along in our chairs, through plowed fields, and stony 
pastures, — no fences, and only paths for roads, — some 
of them right across freshly plowed fields. The sun 
shone brightly, and the air was just crisp enough to 
make it an ideal day for an outing. 

At about four miles from the first tomb we reached 
the entrance to the "Holy Way," which we traverse 
the rest of the way. The entrance is a great, five- 
arched, white marble "pailow" elaborately carved in 
Chinese characters, and after it, four great, carved 
marble columns, — two on each side of the "way." A 
little farther on is the "red gate," and beyond this 
the avenue of statuary, — animals more than twice the 
natural size, each carved out of one solid block of 
stone. On each side of the "way" are two each, of 
elephants, camels, lions, horses, rams, and fabulous 
animals, — these followed by two military officers, two 
civil officers, and two sages of the period. Each of 
these is elaborately carved out of one solid block of 
stone, standing about forty feet apart on each side of 
what was once a fine paved road, right out in the open 



I 



i 



China 59 



plain. Then continuing on this paved road, over 
several stone bridges, we came to the first of the 
tombs, — that of Yung Loh, the first of the Mings, who 
conceived all this wonderful plan, and had it carried 
out during his lifetime — in the fourteenth century. 
I should state that this road, when built, extended 
from the palace in Peking direct to the tombs, a dis- 
tance of forty miles; but it is not kept up now, and is 
all going to ruin. The first tomb — that of the great 
Yung Loh — is the largest and finest, and is the only 
one we visited, as there is quite a distance between 
them, each being situated in a secluded spot among 
the mountains, the whole covering many thousands 
of acres and costing many millions of dollars. 

We returned to Nankow by a diiferent route, near 
the base of the mountains, through fields full of stones. 
There were stone houses, stone walls, stone every- 
thing. And the mountains were genuine "Rocky 
Mountains," very bare and rugged, with the strata of 
rock almost perpendicular, — in some places entirely 
so. This route took us through many persimmon 
orchards, all most beautifully cultivated and the stones 
gathered out. 

We noted that on this trip they did not seem to 
have nearly so many ancestors. 

We returned to Peking that evening, and the next 
day we continued our sight-seeing there. One inter- 
esting little experience was a walk on the wall of the 
city. On that part which overlooked the American 
legation there were United States soldiers on guard. 



6o Glimpses of Many Lands 

The familiar uniform and the old flag looked good 
to us, and we had quite a visit with two of "the 
boys." 

The next stage of our journey took us to Tientsin, 
only three hours' ride from Peking, on the coast. Here 
we saw our first snow of the winter — only a little flurry 
of it, which soon melted. Tientsin is a big seaport, 
and important as a commercial city, but there is noth- 
ing of special interest to tourists. We took a carriage 
drive through much of the native part in the forenoon, 
— the usual narrow, crowded streets and conditions 
the same as we had seen. Went to only one temple, 
which was not interesting. 

The new part, mostly German and English, is like 
any modern city. 

Our most interesting experience in Tientsin was 
attending an American Thanksgiving service, as it 
was our Thanksgiving Day. It was a sort of patriotic 
service, rather than a religious one. There was a good 
address, sang America, and a band played "The Star 
Spangled Banner"; then they had a social time, and 
refreshments served by the ladies. There were about 
a hundred and fifty Americans present. 

From this meeting, we and the Manvilles went 
home with Mrs. Burns and her son to dinner. It 
was an afternoon meeting, and dinner in the evening, 
— at about half-past 8 o'clock. It was a nine-course 
dinner, served by Chinese waiters, and we were at 
the table a little over two hours, — and then were not 
very full. But we had a nice time. 



k 



China 6i 



The next day we were on the train all day, going 
nearly straight south to Tsinaufu, an old walled city 
of the interior where civilization has scarcely touched, 
except through the missionaries. We spent our time 
mostly visiting two great mission compounds. The 
Presbyterians have fifteen missionaries located there, 
but most of them itinerate, and much of their work is 
in the surrounding villages. The Baptists have a fine 
institute and museum, with all sorts of institutional 
work; and they certainly are doing a great work there 
— social, educational, and evangelistic. In both com- 
pounds we met with the heartiest welcome. They are 
always so glad to see anyone from the home land, 
and so more than glad to see anyone who is enough 
interested in their work to come out and inquire into 
it. They all seem happy and encouraged in it, which 
seems wonderful to us when we think of the millions 
who have never yet been touched. 

This seemed to us the dirtiest and most discourag- 
ing looking place we had seen yet. It has about 
250,000 population inside the walls, and all around the 
town, outside the walls, there seemed to be the graves 
of that many million. 

The next day we continued our journey south, all 
day, to Pukow, the terminus of the railroad, on the 
Yang-tse-Kiang River. These daylight rides through 
the country gave us a very good idea of all the part of 
China we visited. At Pukow we crossed the Yang-tse 
on the ferry "Fa Yung," which means "Flying Rain- 
bow." It was a brand new boat, very good looking, 



62 Glimpses of Many Lands 

and gaily decorated for this her maiden trip. She 
went off in fine style, and as she flew across the river 
and swooped down on the docks at the other side, she 
ran squarely into a big junk, and tore out one side of 
it. Quite a record for a first trip. No one was hurt, 
however, and the incident was soon forgotten. 

We were now in Nanking, and were whirled along in 
a thrilling riksha ride, through a terribly crowded 
street lined with soldiers with guns and bayonets, and 
to a hotel which was full of bullet holes and shell marks 
of the siege of only three months ago. 

This was the very heart of the rebellion, and the 
city was still full of soldiers and the spirit of unrest, 
and all advised us not to stay there. So we saw what 
we could of the town in a few hours, then took train 
for Shanghai. 

I am finishing this letter our last day out, as we 
expect to reach Hongkong to-morrow morning. We 
have felt fine every minute so far, and have reason 
to think we will continue to do so the rest of the trip. 
We are beginning to be quite proud of ourselves as 
sailors, and will not dread the water trips so much in 
the future. 

The sea is most beautiful to-day, — dark green, with 
rolling billows of white. 



VI 

China 

On board the 

North German Lloyd 

Steamship "Yorck," December lo, 1913. 

Here we are again on the rolling deep; this time on 
the South China Sea, en route for Singapore. And 
again on the first day out I am beginning my carbon- 
copy letter, so that by writing a little each day I may 
have a long letter ready to mail when we land. These 
long water trips give one a fine chance to get caught up 
in his letter-writing, — and the letter-writing is a profit- 
able way of putting in a part of the time while on the 
trip ; so it works out all right whichever way you look at it. 

But I will resume the thread of my narrative where 
the last letter ended, at Hongkong. 

We reached there on time, the morning of December 
the 5th, with nothing having occurred to mar the 
pleasure or comfort of our second long water trip. 
Put in the greater part of our time that day in reading 
and answering letters, as we received a large package 
of them which had been remailed from our last mail 
station in Japan to Peking, and, missing us there, were 
again remailed, and had come down to Hongkong 
on the same boat with us. 

This has been one of our annoyances so far, — that 
our letters so often do not reach us at the city to which 

63 



64 Glimpses of Many Lands 

they are sent, and have to follow us, — sometimes for 
a long time. But as we were to have plenty of time 
at Hongkong, we did not grudge that spent in reading 
a big bunch of home letters, and in answering many 
of them. 

The plan of our party conductor was that we 
should join them at Hongkong on this date; but he 
had changed it somewhat, and had left word that we 
were to take a steamer that night for Canton, reaching 
there early the next morning. 

We did so, and he met us at the boat at 7 a. m. and 
escorted us to the Victoria Hotel, — which was not 
nearly so nice as its name, — where we had breakfast 
and met the other members of our party. Here also 
we were joined by two others, who continued with us 
for the rest of the six-months' tour for which we were 
booked with the Raymond-Whitcomb Company. 
These were Miss Genevieve Thompson and Mrs. 
McArthur, both of Portland, Oregon, making us now 
a party of eight. 

As we were to have only that one day in Canton, 
we started out early and worked hard, to see all possible 
of this most interesting old city of South China. Its 
streets are so narrow and crowded that it is impossible 
to get through them with any of the vehicles of ordinary 
travel, — even the rikshas cannot be used except in 
the more modern parts, — so we started out in a new 
kind of conveyance, — a sort of chair hung between 
two long, springy poles, and carried by two men, — one 
before and one behind. This made a long, narrow 



China 65 



affair which could wind about through the narrow, 
crooked streets. We had a native guide — ^Ah Kow 
was his name — who was well posted on everything of 
interest. He, with our conductor, and our party of 
eight, single file, made quite a long procession, and 
the funny sight was enough to convulse ourselves with 
laughter; but the natives continued about their business 
and seemed hardly to notice us. 

Canton is a city of about two million and a half of 
people, and, as some one says, "the largest, richest 
and cleanest city in China," — but I think we failed 
to see the clean spots. It is different from all the 
other native cities we have seen in that many of the 
buildings are two stories high; and this, with the ex- 
tremely narrow streets, — some of them roofed over — 
makes a very uncomfortable passage through which 
to travel. 

In Canton the men all have short hair. The queue 
has disappeared from South China, and the fashion is 
growing in popularity even in the North. 

I think I have forgotten to speak of the fact that 
all over China, — even north to Mukden, — the pre- 
vailing color of dress of both men and women is blue, 
— blue of all shades and grades of material from 
cheap, coarse cotton to the richest silks and brocades, 
— so that it is sometimes called "The land of the 
blue gown." Those who do not wear blue are usually 
dressed in black. 

Our ride in chairs that forenoon took us through 
more than ten miles of the narrowest and busiest streets 



66 Glimpses of Many Lands 

in Canton, which, I am quite convinced, no human 
tongue or pen could ever properly describe; so I shall 
not attempt it, but will simply mention some of the 
things we saw. 

We stopped at the shops where tooth-brushes are 
made, and where all sorts of most wonderful ivory 
carving is done, — they call them "shops" because 
they sell, as well as make; the beautiful fan shops; the 
firecracker factories; and the factories where they were 
weaving the most exquisite silk brocades on hand 
looms. We went up on to the old city wall, supposed 
to have been built in the third century, and saw a 
seven-story pagoda of the same date. Next to the 
"temple of the five hundred gods," and to the ancestral 
hall of the Chang family — one of the most costly, 
and beautiful "halls" in China; then to the Temple 
of Horrors, — most of whose "horrors" have been 
abolished, however. One most interesting thing 
which we saw was the City of the Dead. This was not 
a cemetery, as we sometimes apply that name, but a 
place where those who can afford it rent a room, or 
space, and keep the bodies of their friends until such 
a time as they see fit to bury them. The bodies are 
embalmed, of course, and are enclosed in elaborate 
and fanciful cases, and are visited often with offerings 
and all sorts of floral decorations. Bodies are often 
kept here for many months. 

In the afternoon we were rowed across the river to 
a Presbyterian mission station, and visited a school 
for the blind; and the hospital for the insane, at the 



China 67 



head of which is Dr. Selden, whom we met on the 
"Mongolia." Saw and heard much of the interesting 
work there, then were rowed back across the river. 

I wish I could make you see that broad river as 
we saw it. It is said there are half a million people 
live on boats in the river and the harbor of Canton 
and Hongkong, — actually live, or at least exist, 
all the days of their lives on these little fishing boats 
and junks. Whole families are born there, and live 
there all their lives, — earning a pittance each day by 
fishing, or by carrying a passenger or small merchandise 
across the river. One can hardly believe it possible, 
but the water is almost covered with these boats. 
That evening we boarded another steamer, and took 
another night trip, arriving in the early morning at 
the old Portugese city Macao, where we spent one day. 

Macao has its Chinese part, which is not different 
from other Chinese towns, but the rest of the city is 
quite like the Spanish cities we have seen. The chief 
thing of interest we visited there was an opium fac- 
tory, where we saw the boiling, and had the whole 
process of making and packing explained to us. Also 
visited a very large firecracker factory. But the chief 
industry of Macao seems to be gambling. Every- 
where in the business part of the city one sees the 
signs: "First-class gambling house." We visited one 
for a few minutes, just to see how it looked, and it 
was really quite "first-class" looking. Then we went 
to see the home and garden of a wealthy Chinaman 
who made three million dollars in gambling. In the 



68 Glimpses of Many Lands 

evening we boarded a large new excursion boat, the 
"Tai Shan," where we had dinner, and in three hours 
were back in Hongkong. There we had two days 
more for sight-seeing, and there are not many sights to 
see, except the one grand sight, — the view from the 
top of one of the highest hills, 1823 feet above the 
sea, — and it is grand beyond words: the city, the hills 
covered with the most beautiful semi-tropical vegeta- 
tion, the bay and harbor crowded with boats of all 
kinds, and the sea dotted with hundreds of islands. 
The mountain sides are well built up with fine resi- 
dences, — terrace above terrace, with beautiful grounds 
and glorious flowers. Nowhere have we ever seen such 
gorgeous banks of poinsettias as we saw on some of 
these hillsides. The botanical garden has many inter- 
esting and beautiful things, one of them being a deep 
ravine, just full of the most exquisitely beautiful 
tree ferns. There is a cable incline which carries 
people up the hills, and on the top of one of them is the 
fine summer home of the governor-general. Of course 
you all know that Hongkong is a fine, modern, Eng- 
lish city, so I did not think to explain that first. Even 
the Chinese part is almost English. We took several 
long drives through the city, and out into "Happy 
Valley," and enjoyed the three days there very much. 
This is our last day of this trip, if all goes well, as 
we expect to reach Singapore to-morrow about noon. 
This is our third day out, and we have been well 
every minute of the time. The first day and night 
the sea was pretty rough, but since then it has been 





As We Dressed in the Tropics 



1 



China 69 



quite smooth and the weather very hot. Almost 
everybody on board is dressed in white, and we are a 
very tropical-looking crowd. The report at i p. m. 
to-day showed that we were about six degrees north 
of the equator. Hope to mail this in Singapore. 



VII 

Java 

On board the 

Small Dutch Line Steamer, 

the "rumphius," 

On the Java Sea, January 3, 1914. 

It is a little more than two weeks since my last 
letter was mailed, — at Singapore, — and now we are 
on the way back to that city; and I shall make use of 
part of my time of this rather monotonous trip in 
getting another letter ready to mail when we reach 
land. I meant to write this yesterday, but this little 
boat would not keep still long enough for me to even 
get ready to begin. I meant to begin it the day before, 
and say "Happy New Year" to all, but the same 
conditions prevented. 

We left Soerabaya, near the east end of the island 
of Java, that day, and when we were about an hour 
out we ran into a very rough sea, which kept getting 
rougher every minute; and we were informed that we 
— also the sea — had been struck by a northwest 
monsoon, which was likely to continue all night. It 
did, — also all day yesterday and a part of last night; in 
fact, it is quite breezy yet, though we are safe in port at 
Batavia, where they will be loading for several hours. 

The "Rumphius" is a comparatively small boat, and 
the sea was the roughest we had yet seen; and as a 

70 



Java J I 

result nearly all the passengers succumbed to the 
"mal de mer" — among them C. F., who gave up for 
the first time, and failed to report at table at two 
meals. I had the distinction of being the only one 
of our party who did not miss a meal. I was not ill 
at all. But I am beginning at the wrong end of my 
story, — our leaving Java, instead of our arrival, 
the latter being just two weeks ago this morning. 

To make the connection with my last, I will just 
take time to say that we reached Singapore on time, 
on Sunday, December 14th. Found automobiles 
waiting for us, and were soon comfortably settled in 
a suite of rooms looking out on the bay, across a lovely 
green lawn full of palms and shrubbery. It was diffi- 
cult to imagine that it was almost Christmas time, 
with that view in front of us, and the birds singing 
lustily in the trees. But it was not so hot as we ex- 
pected, being only two degrees from the equator, — 
about like an August day at home, with a great deal of 
humidity. We did not go out at all that day, as there 
were several tropical downpours of rain. The next 
day the temperature did not get above ^6°^ but it 
poured rain nearly all day long, and we were not able 
to get out at all; but Tuesday was clear and bright, 
and we got about some. The chief thing which we 
accomplished was the purchase of our topees, which 
we will wear in all the tropical countries. 

Singapore is not interesting, only as a great com- 
mercial center; and it is great in that respect. The 
books say it is one of the greatest in the world, — being 



72 



Glimpses of Many Lands 



the gateway of the Orient. We did not try to do much 
then, knowing we would be there for three days on 
our return from this trip. 

We left on a small Dutch Line steamer on Tuesday 
evening, and reached Batavia, Java, on Friday morn- 
ing, — two days and three nights out, stopping only 
once. This stop was at Billiton, an island which 
produces great quantities of tin. 

Java is much like Cuba in shape, — a little larger, — 
and nearer the equator south than Cuba is north, so 
it is more tropical both in climate and vegetation than 
Cuba. It has Batavia near the west end correspond- 
ing to Havana, and Soerabaya near the east corre- 
sponding to Santiago, — the two largest cities; and, 
like Cuba, these two largest cities are connected by a 
good railroad. 

We landed at Batavia, and were there for three 
days. The only thing of interest to see there is the 
tropical vegetation, — unless it is the Des Indes Hotel 
where we stayed, which I must mention, as it was 
such a surprise to us. We had a suite of lovely tile- 
floored rooms, — a large bedroom well furnished with 
clean, new things; an open porch-like sitting-room with 
easy chairs, table, and desk; a back, half-enclosed porch 
with toilet-room, and the loveliest bathroom ever, 
tiled, and with a shower bath and drain where one can 
splash all he wants to. A shower bath is considered 
one of the essentials of a hotel room in the tropics. 

As it is considered too hot to go out in the middle of 
the day, and it usually rains all the afternoon, there 



Java 73 

doesn't seem to be much time for sight-seeing. But 
we managed to drive during the forenoons, and took 
note of the things which grow, as that is the chief 
interest in Java. One thing surprised us greatly — 
that the tropics had so few flowers. I had always sup- 
posed that the real tropics was one gorgeous flower 
garden. On the contrary there are almost no flowers 
such as grow in gardens, though there are many 
blooming trees and flowering shrubs. The vegetation 
is most luxuriant and beautiful, but in denseness and 
greenness rather than in color. 

Another thing which surprised us has been the 
temperature, as it has not been nearly so hot as we 
expected to find it, — not any hotter than at home in 
our ordinary summer weather, and always comfortable 
at night. But the difl"erence of course is, that this 
summer weather is continuous, and no doubt grows 
hard to endure. It is an interesting sight to see every- 
body dressed in white, — men, women, and children; — 
not the natives, — some of the younger ones of them do 
not dress at all, and none of them wear very much. 

We took one excursion out from Batavia by rail- 
road, about two hours by train to Buitenzorg, to visit 
Java's famous botanical garden. The ride through 
the country was most interesting, showing us the 
natives at work in the fields, and their villages. Espe- 
cially interesting was the rice planting, as we had not 
seen that in China or Japan. They were plowing in 
fields covered with water, with caribou or water buffalo, 
in small terraced patches, — then the people, knee deep 



74 Glimpses of Many Lands 

in water and mud, setting each separate rice stalk in 
the mud, in rows four inches apart, and plants four 
inches apart in each row. 

Of course I can't tell much about that wonderful 
botanical garden in the limited space of a letter, but 
it showed us some of the wonders and beauties of 
tropical vegetation. The orchids and other parasites 
were the most immense; all sorts of strange and queer 
trees and plants, — such as the sausage tree and the 
candle tree; and many beautiful flowering things — 
the gorgeous flame tree, the fragrant frangipani, the 
white lotus, and many others. In the experiment 
garden adjoining, there were all the useful plants and 
shrubs of the tropics, — clove, nutmeg, indigo, tapioca, 
cocoa, coffee, tea, etc. 

From Batavia we started for the east end of the 
island, by railroad. We took it in easy stages, stop- 
ping at important places, and feel that we have seen 
it pretty well. Java is not a very big island, but it 
is a pretty big subject to condense into one letter. 
As you all no doubt know, it belongs to the Dutch, — 
this and other islands being called the Dutch East 
Indies. Wilhelmina's picture is much in evidence. 
The cities are quite modern, — the streets wide and 
clean, and shaded with immense trees. Even the 
native parts are much cleaner than in Japan and 
China. The natives are little better off than slaves, 
as the lordly Dutchmen rule them with a rod of iron, 
taking everything and giving nothing, — nothing but 
abuse. 



Java 75 

The people are a little, mild, sad-looking, brown 
race, — seemingly not much above the animals, as we 
have seen them in the country. They wear very 
little clothing, and most of the children under eight 
or ten years of age none at all, — in the country, of 
course I mean; the cities are different. 

Often we saw a little child with nothing on but a 
string of beads and bracelets; and sometimes quite a 
big boy with nothing on but a hat. Many of the 
women and girls wear ankle-bracelets with bangles, 
and large ear-rings. 

And yet, in spite of appearances, we have seen that 
these people are capable of becoming anything that 
other peoples are. In the hotels they are required 
to dress neatly in white, and they make fine table- 
waiters and room-men; and we have never seen any- 
where more capable and efficient chauffeurs than they 
are. All the cities have many automobiles. The 
Dutch here are a lordly, lazy race. They don't 
seem to do anything but sit around and eat and 
drink, — particularly the latter; — and the women have 
droves of native servants, — a nurse for every child, 
it seems. 

The hotels were surprisingly good, — all arranged 
much like the one I have described in Batavia, but it 
was the finest. Of course the "eats" were not very 
satisfactory. Sometimes we get pretty discouraged 
and think we are going to starve; but still we manage 
to exist. These two Dutch boats are about the nearest 
the limit of anything we have encountered, and we are 



76 Glimpses of Many Lands 

taking comfort from the thought that two more days 
will probably end our trials on them. 

We have quit trying to drink the stuff they call 
coffee, — "Java coffee" sounds all right, but things 
are not always what they seem. This is a strong 
coffee extract, cold, of which they take a teaspoonful, 
then fill up the cup with hot water or hot milk, — and 
it is hard to decide which is worse. 

Java has a population of about thirty millions, a 
half-million being Chinese. These latter, — with the 
Dutch, — are the business men of the island. They 
run many of the industries owned by the moneyed 
men, and they themselves own many sugar mills and 
plantations. Many of the Chinese are rich, and have 
fine homes in the cities, — especially is this true of 
Soerabaya and vicinity. 

In the eastern half of the island are extensive sugar- 
cane and tobacco plantations, and many sugar mills. 
The lowlands are all farmed in rice. 

Our first stop after leaving Batavia — an eight-hour 
ride — was at Garoet, a mountain resort about 2500 
feet above sea level. Here it was quite cool, — slept 
under two blankets at night. Stayed three days there, 
and the second day took a trip up into the mountains 
to see the crater of a volcano. 

Got up at 4 o'clock in the morning, had breakfast, 
then started at 5 o'clock. Drove for three hours in 
little mountain carriages, each carrying two people 
and drawn by two ponies. Here we stopped at a rest 
house, or hotel, at an elevation of 6300 feet, and 



Java 77 

changed conveyances — the ladies to Sedan chairs, each 
carried by four men, and the men to saddle-horses. 
From here we went up a terribly steep and rocky 
mountain trail to an elevation of 8640 feet, — as far 
as the men could take us, — and from here we had a 
long climb on foot to the crater. The last real erup- 
tion was in 1772, but it has never quit smoking; and 
when we were there it had several openings, each 
spouting out steam and sulphur furiously. It was a 
terribly hard trip, and about used me up. The down 
trip was not quite so hard. Had lunch at the rest 
house, then drove back to the hotel, — with the rain 
coming down in torrents almost all the way, — arriving 
there at 5 p. m. fully persuaded that sight-seeing isn't 
all fun. The trip was twenty-one miles each way. 

Java has had many earthquakes, and still has many 
smoking mountains. We saw a beautiful cone-shaped 
one the other day when we were riding, with two chim- 
neys smoking furiously. The highest one is 11,950 
feet. 

Our third day in Garoet was Christmas, a most 
unusual one, spent in the midst of tropical vegeta- 
tion, and the very hottest day we had yet experienced. 
About noon we started on a seven-hours' trip to a nice 
city called Djogjakarta, — nice name too, isn't it.? It 
was a hot, dusty ride, and we were more than glad that 
it could not happen every Christmas. 

The only thing of interest at Djogjakarta is the trip 
to the ancient temple called the Boro Boedoer. We 
went in automobiles, twenty-four miles over a per- 



78 Glimpses of Many Lands 

fectly fine road shaded nearly all the way by immense 
trees. This old temple is a wonderful thing, — so 
wonderful one hardly knows how to give even a faint 
idea of it, — and yet many of us probably never even 
heard of it before. I am quite sure we never did. It 
dates back to the ninth century, at latest — probably 
before that. It was supposed to be simply a stony 
hill in a tropical jungle, when Sir Something-or-other 
Raffles, who had done much for India and Singapore, 
discovered it. It was covered with dirt, and over- 
grown with jungle, and after a force of men had spent 
two months in excavating and cleaning, it was found 
to be the pretty well preserved remains of a magnificent 
temple. This was in 1814, but no great interest was 
taken in it until comparatively recent times, when 
archaeologists began making a study of it. It is not a 
temple in the sense of a building in which worship is 
held, but is rather a monumental temple. They say 
it is a great heap of stonework like the pyramids, or 
the top of a hill built around with stonework. There 
are four terraces, or galleries, of marvelously carved 
stone, ^bove ground, and three others still uncovered 
below these, the whole covering about five acres. It 
is 500 feet square, 97 feet high above the present ground 
surface, and 55 feet below, and has over three miles in 
all of bas-relief carvings. It is evidently a Buddhist 
temple, all the carvings being of the life and teachings 
of Buddha, and there being hundreds of images of 
Buddha, of all sizes. It is certainly a most beautiful 
thing, besides being so much of a wonder as to its 



Java 79 

origin, history, etc. There are ruins of other immense 
and beautiful temples, near Djogjakarta, — all dis- 
covered since the Boro Boedoer. We went to three 
others, but they are not so well preserved. Two are 
standing, and show wonderful carving; but one, seem- 
ingly as large as the Boro Boedoer, is just a great 
mass of carved stone and broken images. 

Nobody seems to understand them, but all who have 
made a study of them agree that they show that this 
part of the island was once occupied by East Indians 
of a high state of civilization and of Buddhist religion. 
One story is that the people of India once conquered 
the natives, and set up a Buddhist kingdom; and that 
later the Arabs came and conquered them and either 
killed or drove out all the Buddhists, and set up a 
Mohammedan kingdom and established Mohammed- 
anism. This looks reasonable, as the people are now 
wholly Mohammedan, and there are even now many 
Arabians living there. I forgot to say, in speaking of 
population, that there are about 65,000 Europeans 
living on the island, — mostly Dutch, of course. 

Another trip of six hours by train took us to Soera- 
baya, our last city of Java. Nothing of special interest 
here, except drives about the city. New Year's Day 
we spent the forenoon at Soerabaya, then started on 
this trip in the afternoon. It was a good deal more 
like the Fourth of July than New Year's, — in fact, was 
very much like it: the summer greenness, the heat, 
the heavy rain, and above all the fireworks. The 
Chinese everywhere celebrate the New Year with 



8o Glimpses of Many Lands 

fireworks, and other people here join them; so we had 
a regular insane Fourth — all sorts of bombardments, 
cannon crackers, and fireworks. 

As I said in the first part part of this, we have 
only two more days to Singapore, and so will bring 
this to a close. 



VIII 

Singapore and Burma 

On board the 

British India Steamship "Angora," 

On the Bay of Bengal, January 22, 1914. 

Arrived in Singapore about 8 o'clock on the morning 
of the 5th, in a pouring rain; went to the Raffles Hotel 
in automobiles, in a pouring rain; and the downpour 
continued almost all the rest of the day. 

Singapore is not as hot as we expected to find it, 
but it certainly is wet. We stayed there for three days, 
and managed to get about some, as the second was not 
quite so bad as the first, and the third was fine all day. 
We took a three-hours' ride in automobiles, — all about 
the city and out among the rubber plantations and the 
finest cocoanut groves we have seen anywhere. There 
are many wealthy Chinese in Singapore, and their 
modern suburban homes are among the conspicuous 
things of our ride. Many of them are very beautiful. 
The Chinese part of the city is like China. 

We spent one forenoon in a trip by rail to the old 
kingdom of Johore — the most southern country of 
the Malay Peninsula, just north of the Singapore 
island. Crossed the strait in a ferry which connects 
with the train, then took rikshas for the ride through 
the town and the palace grounds. 

We were shown through the public rooms of the 
81 



82 Glimpses of Many Lands 

palace, but did not see the Sultan, as he was "up 
country" looking after his rubber plantations. He is 
immensely wealthy and is a business man, as well as a 
sultan with three hundred wives, — no, he has only one 
hundred; it was his father who had three hundred. 
We were shown all his elaborate and valuable gold and 
silver plate, his arms, and his roomful of royal umbrel- 
las. An umbrella is appreciated in that country. 
Then we went to the tomb of his illustrious father, 
"the late sultan," and to his mosque, — he is a Mo- 
hammedan. 

Had an automobile trip to the Singapore botanical 
garden, where we saw myriads of beautiful tropical 
things which grow. Also saw two genuine wild mon- 
keys, jumping about the tops of tall trees, — a new sight. 

The last day there C. F. and I spent the forenoon 
alone, seeing different things. Went to the Y. M. C. A., 
the Y. W. C. A., and a mission school called Oldham 
Hall, — named for Bishop Oldham, who started the 
school forty years ago. It is a boarding school for 
boys, and has over fourteen hundred now in attend- 
ance, — including the day school, — and is entirely self- 
supporting except for the salaries of the missionary 
teachers. The Methodists have a girls' school there, 
too, with almost as many in attendance. 

Then we went to call on a Methodist minister and 
his wife, — whose address had been given us at home by 
mutual friends, — and had a nice visit with them, — 
also some home-made cake and a refreshing drink, 
which were appreciated. 



Singapore and Burma 83 

Left Singapore on the evening of the 8th on the 
British India boat, the "EUenga," for Rangoon. It 
was a clean new boat, and the sea was on its good 
behavior all the way, and we had a very comfortable 
trip. Reached Penang — on the coast about half way 
— early Saturday morning, and were in port there all 
day, while the boat was being loaded, — principally 
with cocoanuts. We watched four big junkloads be- 
ing unloaded into our hold before we went ashore, 
which we did as soon as we had breakfast. We toured 
the city all forenoon in automobiles, going through all 
the best streets, to the botanical garden, and to one 
noted temple. This last was the limit, — for the 
tropics! Like most Buddhist temples, it was high 
up on a hill, — ^where the automobiles could not go, — 
and only reached by many long flights of steps, one 
flight after another. These we climbed, under a broil- 
ing sun, and when we at last reached it, it looked like 
the same old Buddhist temple we had been seeing for 
about two months. 

Penang is quite a modern city, and there are many 
Europeans there, also many Chinese. Some of these 
latter are among the most wealthy men of Penang, and 
many of their homes are about the most magnificent 
private residences we ever saw. Had tiffin at a hotel, 
and late in the afternoon returned to the boat, and 
that evening resumed the journey to Rangoon, which 
we reached the following Tuesday morning. 

Rangoon is a city of 250,000 people. It is the capital 
of Burma, which is now a province of British India; 



84 Glimpses of Many Lands 

that is, Upper Burma belongs to India. Rangoon is 
a very interesting city in many ways,-^interesting in 
its native life, and also in showing what European 
civilization can do for a heathen city. Britain has had 
control of part of Burma for sixty years, and a part of 
it for thirty years. Rangoon is in the first-named 
part. A part of the city is modern, and very beauti- 
ful, — ^wide streets, beautiful big trees, and as lovely a 
park as one often sees in the United States. We had 
a drive through it one afternoon, and stopped for 
awhile to listen to a band concert with really good 
music; and we all agreed that it was the most like 
home of anything we had seen. 

Burma is the one country of the world where Bud- 
dhism has the strongest hold upon the people, and 
where the greatest percentage of the population are 
Buddhists. Burma is their stronghold, with over ten 
millions of the people followers of Buddha. 

Their temples here are all in the form of pagodas, — 
so that it is often referred to as "the land of the 
pagoda," — and there are thousands of them of all 
sizes and degrees of richness and beauty; and they 
are much more attractive than the ordinary temple. 

The natives look much like the people of Java, small 
and brown, and dress much the same; but there are 
more East Indians than Burmese in Rangoon. The 
Burmese are a happy, lazy people, willing to live and 
die with simply enough to eat and the little it is abso- 
lutely necessary to wear. I mean, of course, the 
masses. In the cities there are many who have 



Singapore and Burma 85 

shown a desire for better things, — who have adopted 
European customs, and become pretty well-to-do. 
These dress well — in their native costume — and look 
quite like men and women. The women are espe- 
cially nice-looking, — many of them very pretty. They 
wear their hair combed very smooth and twisted 
into an artistic coil on the top of the head. Their 
dress is usually a piece of goods put around straight, 
making a narrow, straight skirt the crossways of the 
goods, then a little short jacket, — the jacket usually 
white and the skirt bright-colored. 

The men dress nearly the same, only the jacket is 
longer, — more like a coat. The workingmen twist 
the skirt piece up between the legs, in a sort of imitation 
trousers. But nearly all wear bright-colored clothes, 
— men and women, — so that a crowd of them just 
glows with color, like a great poppy garden. The men 
wear a little silk thing wound around the head like a 
turban, and the women have a gauzy, bright-colored 
scarf which is often thrown over the head, — never a 
hat. The East Indians dress similarly, — only less of 
it, — often the workingman having nothing on but a 
middle cloth of some kind and a lot of ornaments. 
They wear bracelets, — sometimes six or seven on each 
arm; anklets; beads around the neck — sometimes 
several strings of different kinds; ear-rings, not only 
in the bottom of the ear, but often four or five along 
the edge and top; and nose- rings — sometimes a ring 
in the middle of the nose, and one on each side, some- 
times even a little bell hung in the middle, sometimes 



86 Glimpses of Many Lands 

a gold button in each side, or perhaps, only in one 
side. Sometimes they have an ornament in the middle 
of the forehead or between the eyes, — I have no idea 
how they stick it on. 

Many of the children are naked, and we have seen 
them entirely without clothes but wearing bracelets, 
anklets, beads, and nose-rings. Once we saw a little 
boy with nothing on but a fancy silver belt around his 
body. 

They seem to live almost wholly in the street, and 
"squat" around anywhere — do not sit as we do, but 
sit down on their feet — and always seem to be having 
a good time. 

This is one side of native life. One day we saw a 
different phase of it. C. F. and I took a carriage and 
drove out into the edge of Rangoon to a twenty-five- 
acre enclosure called "The Vinton Compound." It is 
a Baptist mission, established there more than fifty 
years ago, — I do not remember exactly the date. But 
Mrs. Vinton, whom we met, and who lives there now, 
has lived in that same house for fifty-two years, and 
all her children and grandchildren were born there. 

Her father. Rev. Haswell, came to Burma as a 
missionary in 1835, and she was born there, — she is 
now past seventy-five years old. She remembers Dr. 
Judson very well, — the first missionary to Burma. 
He came to Rangoon a few months more than a hun- 
dred years ago, and last December they had a "Judson 
centennial" and a great Jubilee. It was fine, I am 
sure, from what we learned of it. Judson came to real 



Singapore and Burma 87 

heathen, — in the depths of barbarism; living in degra- 
dation; cruel, unclean, treacherous, — almost worse 
than beasts. Now there are more than sixty-six thou- 
sand church members in Burma of the Baptist faith 
alone; and counting their families it is called a Chris- 
tian community of at least two hundred thousand of 
Baptists only. But some will say that this is not a 
very great number for a hundred years of work. 
Judson had only seven converts in the first ten years! 
He prepared the way for others, sowed the seed, some 
of which grew and produced more seed, and now many 
are sowing. 

But it is not the number of church members alone 
which counts, w^hen one wants to reckon up the results 
of mission work; it is what has been accomplished in 
the uplift of the people toward the Light, — the improve- 
ment in their moral and physical, as well as spiritual, 
being. That is what we saw at Vinton Compound. 
We met a minister there who had just returned from 
an itinerating trip, who has the supervision of sixty 
churches in the small villages, each with a native 
pastor. He told us of what they were doing to try 
to uplift the people of the country places. Among 
other things they encourage the people to send their 
children to the mission schools in the cities, which 
can do so much more for them than their little local 
schools. 

The Vinton Compound has numerous kinds of build- 
ings and dormitories, and a memorial church built by 
the native Christians themselves, without any outside 



88 Glimpses of Many Lands 

help, as a memorial of Mrs. Vinton's father and her 
husband, — both of whom died there. The school is 
self-supporting, only the missionaries* salaries being 
paid by the Baptist board. It has a Bible school for 
women, which trains them for work among their own 
people. Rev. and Mrs. Seagrave have charge of the 
school. They gathered the children and young people 
from the different rooms into the chapel, and had them 
sing for us. It was a fine sight, — that great roomful of 
bright, clean, self-respecting young people, — as fine 
looking as any you could see at home. There are over 
five hundred in the school, and over seventeen hun- 
dred in the Baptist college nearby in all grades. These 
are all being taught all that pertains to an honest, 
upright, clean Christian manhood and womanhood. 

There are many other schools in Rangoon, but I 
mention this one at greater length, as it was the one we 
visited. But when you think of the influence these 
young people must have on the life of the country 
villages to which they return, then you may have 
some conception of what Christian missionaries are 
doing for mankind in this life, as well as fitting them for 
the life to come. " By their fruits ye shall know them," 
and I cannot make any more forcible comparison be- 
tween heathenism and Christianity than that seen in 
Rangoon. But I did not mean to turn this into a 
sermon, so will change the topic. 

One morning we got up early and all went out to the 
lumber yards just outside the city, on the river bank, 
to see the elephants work. We had to go early, as 



Singapore and Burma 89 

elephants work only short-hour days, and their morn- 
ing ends at 9 a. m. Then they begin again at 5 p. m. 
and work two hours. This is because they cannot en- 
dure working in the heat of the day. They are evi- 
dently more delicate than they appear. But they can 
work, all right; and it was truly wonderful to see them 
handle those immense teakwood logs with their 
trunks and tusks, and lift and pile them as straight 
as men could do it. When one log would not lie 
perfectly straight in the place it ought to be, the 
elephant would seem to know just how it should be 
changed, and would proceed to shove it into place. 
They were guided and directed by a man on the back 
of each; but we could not see anything that he did to 
direct them. 

Another feature of Rangoon worth mentioning is its 
thousands of crows everywhere, keeping up an inces- 
sant and ear-splitting cawing from the first peep of 
day until dark. 

From Rangoon we went about four hundred miles 
north, by railroad, to Mandalay. We were indeed 
"On the road to Mandalay," and we kept quoting 
Kipling's poem, and listening for the "tinkle, tinkle, 
tinkle of the bells," but never heard them. This trip 
gave us an opportunity to see a good deal of the coun- 
try and its products, — rice being the chief one, as usual. 
It was nearly all harvested, and some was being 
threshed by cattle treading it out. Then we saw it 
being winnowed by being poured through a high sieve. 
Everything very primitive. The living places of the 



90 Glimpses of Many Lands 

people — one cannot call them houses — were just little 
low huts, made by poles being stuck in the ground and 
covered with straw. Hardly any of them had any 
sides. It probably does not cost anything to build 
their "houses." The latter part of the day we went 
through very valuable teakwood forests. Burma has 
great tin mines, too, and extensive oil fields. 

Mandalay was the capital, under the kings, before 
India got possession, and of course we visited the old 
palaces and grounds and tombs. But the special 
feature of interest is its many pagodas. Chief among 
these is the great golden pagoda with its seven hundred 
and thirty smaller white ones. Four hundred and 
fifty of these smaller ones contain each a white 
marble tablet with some portion of the sacred writings 
of Buddha. The great golden pagoda — called the 
Kuthodar — is built of brick and then plastered, then 
covered with real gold leaf, until it looks like pure gold. 
It was regilded about a year ago at a cost of twenty 
thousand dollars. 

There are many other pagodas, all interesting, but 
this will suffice for description. 

It was the dry season, and everything was so covered 
with dust that nothing was pretty, and we kept won- 
dering what Kipling saw worth writing about. We 
stayed only one day, — and that was plenty, — then came 
back to Rangoon by steamboat on the Irrawaddy 
River. This was a three-days' trip, traveling only in 
the daytime, and "tying up" at landings at night. 
This gave us other views of the country, and showed 



Singapore and Burma 91 

us more of the native life as we stopped at many 
landings. The first day on the boat was quite cold — 
so cold we had to wear heavy coats when on deck, and 
slept under two blankets at night. It seemed a remark- 
able state of things for the tropics — ^for we were still in 
the torrid zone, Mandalay being 22° north, and we 
were going south from there. The Irrawaddy is a 
broad river, flowing through a nearly flat country, and 
much of the country is uninteresting. At one landing 
they loaded many great bags of peanuts on to the boat, 
this being the chief product of that particular section. 

The second day out we passed the great oil fields of 
Burma, — great forests of derricks on the east bank of 
the river, and one right in the middle of the river on a 
sand bank. On the river banks, both sides, were 
hundreds of pagodas, — single and in groups. 

So passed the three days, and we arrived safely in 
Rangoon, — of which I have already written at length, 
— and left there as the date of this letter indicates. I 
have written some each day, and this is our third day 
out. We expect to reach Calcutta this afternoon, and 
I will mail this there. 

India will be strenuous work, but interesting. 



IX 

India 

Agra, India, February 8, 1914. 

India is going to be such a big subject that I shall 
have to divide it into two letters, or more, so I will 
try to get the first one written while here by using my 
evenings for it, as there is never much to interest one 
in the evenings. It is quite a task to write long letters 
when one is on the go so much of the time, and is rather 
weary as a result, the balance of the time. The boat 
trips have helped out, however, and I shall make use 
of that enforced leisure whenever it occurs. 

Calcutta was our "port of entry" to India, on the 
24th of January — the day I finished my last letter. 
It is about a hundred miles up the Hoogly River, 
which is wide and not very deep, for this distance. 
It is said to be very unsafe on account of quicksand 
in some parts. One vessel is known to have gone 
down in the quicksand some years ago; and "they 
say" there have been others. The pilots on this part 
of the Hoogly are experts, and are the highest paid 
pilots in any part of the world. Of course stories like 
these made us all eager to see all there was to be seen, 
and we did not spend much time indoors that after- 
noon. It grew almost exciting when, at what is called 
the approach to the dangerous point, all the lifeboats 
on our steamer were swung out, and every seaman was 

92 



J 



India 93 

at his post ready for action. But we rode serenely- 
over it, as though no danger lurked in the quicksands 
beneath. 

We reached Calcutta about 3 p. m., and were soon 
bowling up be^autiful, broad avenues to the Grand 
Hotel. Our first impressions of the city were very 
pleasant, as we drove through broad streets with parks 
and flowers, and past great government buildings, and 
statues, and all sorts of interesting things. It is a city 
of over a million people, and the largest in India. It 
has been under English rule for so long, and the seat 
of government until three years ago, that it is almost 
like an English city. It has its native part, too, but 
even that has been much changed by contact with 
foreigners. There are poor people there, of course, 
but there are many very rich, — among the natives as 
well as the English. 

We were there four days, and were over much of the 
city in automobiles, and also took several long trolley 
car rides, and felt we had seen it pretty well. One of 
our automobile rides took us through the most con- 
gested part of the na.tive crty, where the streets literally 
swarmed with people. Beyond this, outside of the 
city, we came to the usual "botanical garden" — ^which 
in this case is just a great park, full of various kinds 
of trees and shrubs, the chief one being the largest 
banyan tree in the world. It is one hundred and forty 
years old. Its main trunk is 51 feet in circumference, 
and 85 feet high, — the whole crown being 997 feet 
around and having 562 aerial roots — many of them 



94 Glimpses of Many Lands 

being great tree trunks themselves. It looks more like 
a grove of trees than a single tree. 

We visited the great Calcutta museum, also the 
Y. M. C. A. and the Y. W. C. A. Went to a lecture 
at the Y. M. C. A. building, on "Leaders of modern 
religious movements in India," but it dealt only with 
the "movements" in the old religions, and showed their 
unrest and their reaching out after something more 
soul-satisfying. 

Went to church service at a nice little Methodist 
church, and to see the St. Paul's Cathedral, — Church 
of England, — which is their Westminster Abbey of 
India. Here we saw a very beautiful statue of 
Reginald Heber, the missionary and hymn-writer. 
Another place of interest was the site of the historic 
"Black Hole," and, near by, a monument with the 
names of the one hundred and twenty-three persons 
who perished in it. The dungeon itself is marked by 
a black marble tablet with inscription. 

We spent one forenoon at the Lee Memorial, a 
mission school which grew up from a tragedy which 
occurred in September, 1899. Rev. Lee with his wife 
and seven children had gone from Calcutta to Darjeel- 
ing — a mountain resort — for the hot months, and were 
living in a cottage on the mountain side. Mr. Lee, 
with his wife and seven-months-old baby, had gone 
back to Calcutta to get the home in order, intending 
that the children should follow them in a few days. 
Two days before they were to leave the cottage, there 
was a terrible deluge of rain which lasted all day, 



India 95 

causing many landslides among the mountains. One 
of these took the cottage with it, and the six children 
were buried in the debris. One was found alive the 
next morning, but died soon after. One little girl 
was found dead, but none of the others were ever 
recovered. 

From this there was started a little memorial mission 
school, which has grown until it is now quite an edu- 
cational institution, with a large, fine building, and a 
school that is doing a great work, — not only the usual 
work among the children, but in training Bible women 
for work in the zenanas. Mr. Lee is a Methodist mis- 
sionary, but the school is undenominational, and is 
supported almost wholly by voluntary contributions. 

Our next trip was to Darjeeling. It is on the lower 
range of the Himalaya Mountains, — what might be 
called the foothills, — about 7000 feet altitude. The 
railroad trip there was interesting enough to make 
note of, as it had some of the unusual in it. We left 
Calcutta in the afternoon, and rode for a couple of 
hours in a very nice parlor car; then left the train 
at the River Ganges and boarded a ferry which took 
us across the river and also some distance up it, where 
we connected with the continuation of the railroad 
north. (A magnificent bridge is in process of building 
there.) We were on the ferry for nearly an hour, so 
had dinner there, — that is part of the business of the 
ferry. That was one of the "unusual" features of 
the trip, — dinner on the Ganges, — but it was not at 
Benares! Across the river we boarded our sleeping 



96 Glimpses of Many Lands 

car, where we had a large, comfortable compartment, 
and were soon settled for the night. 

I think I must digress a bit here to explain that 
though the sleeping cars in India and Burma are fairly- 
good, all travelers are required to furnish their own 
bedding. Our conductor laid in a supply of bedding 
at Rangoon, and hired three English-speaking native 
servants who were to go with us all through India and 
have the entire charge of our bedding, baggage, etc. 
They made up our beds at night, put bedding away in 
the morning, and looked after our comfort generally. 
But to return to our subject: Had to get up at 6 
o'clock the next morning to change cars. Here we 
had early breakfast, then boarded a train with open 
cars for the mountain ride. It was cold, and we used 
our steamer rugs. But it was a glorious mountain 
ride — a narrow-gauge road, with very small engine and 
short cars, which wound around making short curves 
and three complete loops, — and four times backed and 
"tacked"! Reached Darjeeling about 1:45 p.m. and 
went up the hill to the hotel in rikshas, each with 
three men. 

The city is built up the mountain side, houses above 
each other on terraces, with only paths for streets 
tacking this way and that; and with no modes of con- 
veyance except on horseback, in rikshas, or in chairs, 
— a new kind of chair called a dandy, each carried by 
four or six men, according to the size of the person. 

It is a very picturesque city, and has a population 
of thirty-five thousand, and is a popular summer 



India 97 

resort for people from the cities of the hot lowlands. 
We went for the scenery. The room we occupied at 
the hotel looked out onto the highest range of the 
Himalaya mountains, — forty miles away, to be sure, 
but seeming to be not more than four. The highest 
peak is Mount Everest, 29,002 feet; the next, 
Kinchinjinga, 28,185 feet, with many others over 
20,000 feet. They were snow-covered for a long way 
down, and when the sunrise was on them they were a 
beautiful rose color, — a glorious sight. 

Our second day there we took a trip to Tiger Hill 
for a better view of the sunrise on the snow. Got 
up at 3 o'clock A. M., dressed, had coffee and bread, 
and at exactly 4 o'clock each got into a "dandy" 
carried by six men, and started up the hills. It 
took two hours and five minutes to reach the little 
observatory on the top of Tiger Hill, — 1000 feet higher 
than Darjeeling. It was a weird ride in the darkness, 
lighted only by the myriads of stars, and listening to 
the strange chatter of the crowd of natives who carried 
us. Presently the stars began to pale, and faint streaks 
of light appeared in the east, which increased gradual- 
ly and grew pink by the time we reached the summit. 

There, in the little observatory, hot coffee was 
served to us, while we watched the pink glow increase 
and grow brighter on the snow-crowned peaks of the 
highest mountains in the world, — the Himalayas. 
Our guide-book says, "The view from Tiger Hill is 
probably equaled nowhere else on the globe." And 
it surely is grand beyond description. 



98 Glimpses of Many Lands 

The ride back by daylight and in the sunshine was 
fine also. Got back at quarter of nine, and were 
ravenously hungry for breakfast, which was ready for 
us. Had a sleep, then took a walk to see the place of 
the landslide and the tragedy of the Lee children. 

From Darjeeling we went back to Calcutta over the 
same route, stayed there one day, then continued our 
journey to Benares, — Benares, the sacred city of the 
Hindus, on the sacred River Ganges! Here words 
fail me! I think a whole line of exclamation points 
would express my feelings better than I could do it in 
words. I am sure I can never convey even a faint 
conception of the horrors of heathendom, as we saw 
them there, in a couple of pages of an ordinary letter. 
If I were writing a book on it, and could take up sub- 
jects in detail, I might attempt some description. As 
it is, I can only generalize, and speak of the temples 
we saw, — temples of Siva, and Vishnu, and Durga, 
and Kali, and the monkey god, and the elephant god, 
and the cow temple, and the golden temple, — and so 
on, adinfinitum! Please excuse the "ands," but they 
seem necessary there, — for emphasis. The temples are 
all filthy and ill-smelling, and dirty people are swarm- 
ing everywhere in and about them. One writer says, 
"Continued streams of humanity from all parts of 
India converge here, for it is the center and stronghold 
of Hinduism." Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims 
make the pilgrimage to this far-famed city of their 
holy religion. It seems almost incredible that in 
Benares, a city of 200,000 population, there should be 



India 99 



2,cxx) temples, besides innumerable shrines. With its 
one-half million of idols it surpasses what the Apostle 
Paul saw in Athens, where he said he saw "the city full 
of idols." 

The second morning there we went out early for a 
ride in a boat, on the river near the shore, to see the 
ghats and the bathers. 

The ghats are great temple-like buildings along the 
river for two miles, with platforms and steps leading 
down into the water, where the people go to bathe in, 
and drink of, the sacred River Ganges. We went up 
and down the river, past all the ghats; and it was a 
sight never to be forgotten. Thousands of people 
coming and going, in their many-colored, flowing gar- 
ments, thousands more in the water, — and on the 
platforms above, each under a huge umbrella, sat the 
Hindu priests to take the tax from every one. For as 
each bather finishes his purifying and his worship, 
he goes to the priest to have his caste mark, or mark of 
his god, placed on his forehead. 

We passed two burning ghats, also, on the river 
bank close to the others, where the bodies of the dead 
are burned. Saw one body on the funeral pile burn- 
ing; another just ready to be lighted, and one lying in 
the edge of the river waiting its turn. Also saw a body 
borne to the ghat on a litter, while the procession which 
carried and followed it kept crying out to their gods 
and making great outcries. 

The representation we had in the India scene of 
the pageant, in "The World in Chicago," was perfect. 



loo Glimpses of Many Lands 

The people coming and going on those steps, the goats 
they led, — there were many of them, — then carrying 
in the body and putting it on the pile of wood. I could 
easily imagine little Rhadamani in her red dress added 
to the scene, — as it used often to be at these same 
ghats. 

It was all very terrible, and I was glad to get away 
from it, though of course I was glad to have seen it, 
— even the worst. 

After leaving the boat we climbed the steps of one 
ghat, then up several flights of steps into a room of a 
temple, where we saw a "very holy man" doing pen- 
ance on a bed of spikes, on which he lies three hours at 
a time, and sleeps on it. After tiffin we all drove out 
to Sarnath, or ancient Benares, to see the ruins of the 
old temple, halls, and monasteries where Buddha used 
to teach, and the spot where he preached his first 
sermon. But there is no Buddhism in Benares now. 
There are some Mohammedans, but Hinduism is the 
chief religion. 

There are parts of Benares that are really quite 
pretty. Our hotel stood in large, pretty grounds, 
with a profusion of beautiful flowers, and it was a real 
relief to get back there, where one felt he dared to 
breathe freely. 

From Benares we went next to Lucknow, — interest- 
ing to all the world since 1857 as being the place of the 
greatest siege the world has ever known. We had a 
good native guide for the city, who was born in Luck- 
now, and whose grandfather was one of the few natives 



India loi 

in the defense who did not mutiny. He made it very 
realistic to us as he described the siege while we stood 
on the very spot where Aitkin's battery held out for 
87 days, — where Sir Henry Lawrence was shot, — and 
where the relieving forces came in. Near by is the 
cemetery where all the heroic dead were buried, — men, 
women, and children. Among them was the grave 
of Sir Henry Lawrence. We stayed in Lucknow two 
days, going to all places connected with the mutiny; 
then went on to Cawnpore, taking the same guide with 
us to complete the story. 

It is only an hour and a half's ride by train, and we 
stayed only one day, visiting all the places made famous 
in the mutiny by the massacres. 

The "massacre ghat," as it is called, still stands, 
and has a marble slab which records how "450 persons 
were most foully and treacherously murdered in the 
boats, at these steps." Then there is the memorial 
church with many tablets, and the well where the 
bodies of 120 women and children were thrown. This 
is enclosed by a fine, massive railing, and over the well 
is a life-sized marble figure called "The Angel of the 
Resurrection." It is very beautiful. There are a 
number of enclosures where others are buried which 
are most appropriately marked; for instance, ex- 
tending all the way around the railing of one are the 
words, "In the world ye shall have tribulation; but 
be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." On 
another is, "These are they that have come up out of 
great tribulation." 



102 Glimpses of Many Lands 

There is nothing in Cawnpore to see except the 
massacre monuments, so after one day there, we came 
on to Agra, where we expect to stay for three days. It 
is of interest from the standpoint of its beautiful 
ancient buildings, its Pearl Mosque, and its famous 
Taj Mahal. 

We went first in our sight-seeing to the Agra Fort, 
built in 1560 by Akbar, the third of the great Mogul 
emperors, as a protection for his palaces, himself, and 
his numerous family. It is a mile and a half in cir- 
cumference — an immense red sandstone wall, seem- 
ingly in as perfect condition as if built last year. It 
is surrounded by a deep moat, — now dry, — and inside 
of the walls are the numerous palaces of several em- 
perors, several palaces of "favorite wives," and the 
harem of the 240 other ladies. Here also is the Pearl 
Mosque, built by Akbar for his private worship. It 
is entirely of white marble, exquisitely carved, and is 
a dream of beauty. 

But the most beautiful bit of architecture we have 
ever seen here or anywhere else is the famous 
Taj Mahal, — the mausoleum which Shah Jahan built 
for his beautiful wife, Mumtaz Mahal. Shah Jahan 
was the grandson of Akbar, and the next to the last 
of the great Moguls. He, also, is buried in the tomb. 
It was built in 1630; that is, it was begun then, 
though it took many years to finish it. Some authori- 
ties say seven years, some say ten, some more. It is 
313 feet square, 242^ feet high at the dome, and at 
each corner is a minaret 200 feet high. It is built 



India 103 

entirely of white marble — snowy white even yet. 
The outside is comparatively plain, but the inside is 
elaborately craved, — much of it in flower designs, and 
exquisite lacework. The color part of the flowers is 
inlaid with precious and semi-precious stones, — emer- 
alds, rubies, sapphires, opals, jade, coral, and others, 
all polished down to seem like a part of the marble 
itself. It is all such beautiful work, and the whole so 
harmonious and artistically perfect, that one stands 
and gazes in wonder and admiration at this most 
marvelous work of the men of that age. Inside, under 
the great dome, is a very wonderful echo, and a clear, 
high voice reverberates back and forth in weird music. 
The two cenotaphs are directly under the dome, but 
the embalmed bodies are eighty feet below in walled 
vaults which are reached by a steep stairway. 

It is said to have cost over 15 million dollars, — some 
authorities make it much more. It stands in a garden, 
or park, of 42 acres, full of trees, shrubbery, and flow- 
ers, all kept in perfect condition by the British govern- 
ment, — as the "Taj" is one of the greatest treasures 
of East Indian architecture. 

Some one has said that "there is something in it 
difficult to define or analyze, which differentiates it 
from all other buildings in the world." The same 
writer says, "The whole conception, and every line 
and detail of it, express the intention of the design- 
ers; it is Mumtaz Mahal herself, radiant in her youth- 
ful beauty, who still lingers on the banks of the shining 
Jumna, at early morn, in the glowing midday sun. 



I04 Glimpses of Many Lands 

or in the silver moonlight." And again, "It is India's 
noble tribute to the grace of Indian womanhood, — 
the Venus di Milo of the East." And again he says, 
"A fairy vision of silver white — like the spirit of 
purity — seems to rest so lightly, so tenderly upon the 
earth, as if in a moment it would soar into the sky." 
And this from Sir Edwin Arnold : 

"Not architecture! as all others are, 
But the proud passion of an emperor's love 
Wrought into living stone; which gleams and soars, 
With body of beauty shrining soul and thought, 

As when some face 

Divinely fair unfolds before our eyes — 
Some woman, beautiful unspeakably — 
And the blood quickens, and the spirit leaps, 
And Will, to worship bends the half-yielded knee; 
While Breath forgets to breathe! 
So is the Taj." 

I have quoted at some length, as it describes the 
beautiful Taj in the words of writers more gifted than I. 

We drove out six miles to Sikandra, to see the tomb 
of the great Akbar himself, built by his son Jahangir, 
the father of Shah Jahan. It is a great piece of work, 
but no comparison with the beautiful Taj. The carv- 
ing on all these things is a continuous source of wonder 
to us. The men of those days carved stone to make it 
look like exquisite lacework. One of the interesting 
things at Akbar's tomb, just at the head of the ceno- 
taph, is a carved marble pedestal about two feet high 
on which the famous Kohinoor diamond used to rest. 

Another interesting trip out from Agra was an auto- 
mobile ride of 21 miles to the deserted city of Fahtepur 



India 105 

Sikra — built by Akbar as his capital, but occupied 
only 15 years. But the well-preserved ruins show it 
to have been a magnificent city. Went out over a 
very good road, with large shade-trees on both sides 
the entire distance. On this trip — ^just inside of the 
old city — we saw a flock of ten or twelve wild peacocks 
— not so wild, either, as they know they are protected, 
being sacred birds in India. We had seen one or more 
several times before this. 

There were other noted tombs, and other mosques 
and buildings of beautiful design and fine work in 
Agra, but I have not time for more. 

From here we go to Delhi. In my next I will try 
to tell more of the country through which we have 
passed. It has not been at all hot in any place we have 
been in India, except when in the sun in the middle of 
the day. It is cool enough for overcoats in many of 
our rides, and we sleep under two or three blankets at 
night. I almost forgot to speak of our interesting 
guide at Agra, — a most unique character who had 
been a guide for forty years, and was most enthusiastic 
in all his stories and descriptions. His name was 
Gobind Ram. 



X 

India 

Colombo, Ceylon, March 4, 1914. 

We have traveled a great many miles and have 
seen a great many places and things since my last 
letter was mailed. And now that we have come to a 
fine resting place, and expect to stay long enough to 
have the first genuine long rest of our trip on land, 
I will try to gather up the threads of my story and con- 
tinue weaving them into something more like a read- 
able form than as I got them down in my diary day 
by day. 

From Agra we continued nearly north to Delhi, the 
city where the great durbar was held in 191 1, when 
King George was crowned, and which is now the capi- 
tal of British India, — it having been removed from 
Calcutta three years ago. Delhi is a large city, and 
has always been one of the important cities in the 
historical struggles and conquests in India, even earlier 
than the days of the Moguls; and Britain saw it would 
please the natives to have it still the most important 
city, — hence the change, much to the disgust of Cal- 
cutta and the province of Bengal. 

Delhi was a most interesting old city before, — with 
its old fort and palaces, and many ancient ruins for 
miles around, in the country. But the government 
is now adding a new part which will make it a very 

106 



India 107 

handsome modern city, — immense government build- 
ings with large grounds, great parks, electricity, water- 
works, etc. But, naturally, the old part is of the 
greatest interest to tourists; so we went first to the 
old fort containing the palaces of the Moguls, and 
another white marble "pearl mosque." You see, the 
"forts" in those days were not built as a defense for 
the people or the city, but just a great wall of protec- 
tion for the emperor's private property, — including 
his family and harem. This one was similar to the 
one in Agra, so I will not repeat, but will only speak of 
a notice which was posted at the front of the Pearl 
Mosque: "Visitors are reminded that anyone enter- 
ing the inner shrine of the Pearl Mosque, wearing boots, 
wounds the religious susceptibilities of Mohammed- 
ans." It is not necessary to say that we took off 
ours after such a polite and delicately worded reminder. 
Delhi has the largest mosque in India, which is 
said to be the regular place of worship of fifty thou- 
sand Mohammedans. We had the good fortune to 
be there on Friday, their holy day, and attended their 
service at the midday hour of prayer. We were not 
among the worshipers, however, but were permitted 
to sit in a balcony at the rear, from which we could 
see it all very well. In the center of the large, square 
court of the mosque is a great square marble tank, 
or lavatory. It is rather a basin, — low, and with a 
low marble railing or wall around it, on which the 
people sit while they wash their feet, hands, and mouth, 
— the necessary purification before they take part in 



io8 Glimpses of Many Lands 

the worship. Several thousand were present, and were 
all "purified" in the same water. Each first pros- 
trates himself three times, then they all stand, — facing 
toward Mecca, — while a priest on a high platform reads 
in a high, chanting tone from the Koran. At inter- 
vals the people respond, sometimes bowing the head, 
and sometimes bending the body very low. This is 
all there was to the service; but it was very quiet and 
reverent, and as viewed from where we were it was 
very impressive. 

Delhi was an important place during the mutiny 
of 1857, and there are many evidences of the great 
siege there, — the battered wall, the bullet-riddled old 
Kashmir gate through which the entrance was ef- 
fected, a globe and cross full of bullet holes, — standing 
beside a small church now, but it was shot down 
during the siege. 

We visited all sorts of shops and factories where 
things were made — beautiful silks and embroideries, 
things carved from ivory, etc. — and took drives to 
different places around the city. 

Delhi was the farthest north our itinerary took us, 
and finding we could not spare the time to go north to 
the Punjab, where most of the Presbyterian missions 
are, we wrote to Miss Kerr, who has charge of the 
school where the little girl is whom we support, and 
asked her to bring Diali — the little girl — and spend 
the time with us while we were in Delhi. It was a 
whole day's ride by railroad, but they came Friday 
evening and stayed at the hotel with us until Monday 



India 109 

evening. We took them with us in all our sight seeing 
and drives and for a 22-mile automobile ride out to 
some wonderful ruins. It was a great experience for 
a little Indian girl who had never before been in a city 
or an automobile, nor on a railroad train, nor hardly 
outside of a native village. She was a very modest, 
shy little thing, and talked little; but her big brown 
eyes showed her appreciation. 

Our next journey was eight hours by rail to Jaipur. 
It is a walled city — an area of just two miles square 
within the walls, and contains 126,000 people. The 
two principal gates are opposite each other at the ends 
of the chief street, and are called the Sun Gate, and the 
Moon Gate. 

It is a strictly native city — ^very few Europeans ever 
get to it — even tourists. It has some very wide 
streets well paved, with good buildings which are made 
very conspicuous and showy by being painted a bright 
pink color — so that it is called the "pink city." But 
there are also many very narrow streets, where we 
saw camels, donkeys, cows, oxen, goats, dogs, chickens, 
ducks, children, and all sorts of clothed and partly 
clothed men and women mingling in one heterogeneous 
mass. 

Drove to the maharaja's Palace, a park, a museum, 
and a factory where we saw rug weaving, — beautiful 
rugs, too; the work all done by hand by boys of from 
8 to 12 years of age who work eight hours a day for 
two, three, or four cents a day! 

The second day there we went in carriages for a 



no Glimpses of Many Lands 

five-mile drive toAmber, theold capital of this province, 
— Raj pu tana province. Amber is now a deserted 
city. There we changed our mode of transportation, 
and rode on elephants for two miles farther up the hill 
to the old palaces of the maharajas, built in the elev- 
enth century. They were very fine in their day. 
Here we saw his private temple, and the image of 
the hideous god Durga, where they used to offer human 
sacrifices, but now offer only goats. 

Went to the depot at 9:30 that night, and went to 
bed in our sleeping car, so as to be ready for the train 
which would start at 5 :20 the next morning. A good 
way to be sure to be on time for the starting, but a 
pretty poor way to sleep. It was noisy in the train 
yard, and besides that, the jackals in the surrounding 
hills kept up such a yelping that there wasn't much 
sleeping in that car that particular night. But it 
added to the variety of our experiences, which was 
compensation. 

The next day's ride was through about the most 
forsaken-looking country we have ever seen, — a dreary, 
barren waste, — rocks, hills, and dry plains with cac- 
tus, — ^and besides, it was hot and dusty. About 
4 p. M. we reached a station called Abu Road, where 
we left the train and got into little two-wheeled carts 
called tongas. Two of us in each, seated with faces 
toward the rear, and drawn by two horses. It was 
three hours up a steep mountain road to Mount 
Abu, — and we drove very fast, with four relays of 
horses at regular relay stations. 



India ill 

It was hot and dusty at first, and we fairly flew over 
the smooth road, but as we got higher it grew cooler, 
the vegetation grew greener, and we revived. Saw a 
great many large monkeys along the road, and swing- 
ing from the trees. Earlier in the day we saw six deer 
and droves of wild peacocks along the railroad. 

It was dark when we reached Mount Abu, and we 
went direct to the hotel. In the morning we were 
surprised to find we were in quite a pretty town, — a 
mountain resort of people from the low countries, — 
with beautiful flowers and shrubbery. But its chief 
attraction is its wonderful Jain Temple, built nine hun- 
dred years ago. It has the most elaborate and ornate 
carving in marble we have ever seen anywhere. It is 
simply marvelous! Looks like great draperies of lace 
in some places. "They say" it took 5000 workmen 
14 years to build it, and it cost 62 million dollars. I 
cannot prove this. Our guide is our authority. 

That afternoon we took the ride down the moun- 
tain; then a short ride by train to Ahmedabad, where 
we changed to a broad-gauge road, and the finest 
sleeper compartment we had yet had in India, — large 
and clean, with a real bathroom in connection! Our 
first experience with a bathtub on a railway train! 

Were up early to see the country and the arrival 
at Bombay, where we were due at 8 a. m. It had been 
a strenuous week, and I was very tired; but as we 
rounded a curve and came out from some woods, there 
burst upon our sight a view I shall never forget, — 
after all the dirt and poverty and dryness of the past 



112 Glimpses of Many Lands 

month, — the beautiful, sail-flecked, blue waters of the 
sea! and tired as I was, I felt like jumping up and 
crying out my joy at the sight. 

But we soon got rested, as the Taj Mahal Palace 
Hotel made us very comfortable. Bombay is the 
second city in size in India, with nearly a million 
people. It is on an island and has a beautiful bay. 
We saw it from a bird's-eye view, and drove over it a 
good deal, and decided it was the prettiest city we had 
seen in India, — even the native part looked almost 
modern, and the people clean and decently clothed. 
Civilization has influenced them for a longer time than 
in most other parts of India. England has owned the 
island of Bombay since 1668, which accounts for it. 

Among the natives the most interesting sect is the 
Parsees, — originally Persians, as the name indicates; 
and farther back many things seem to indicate that 
they were from the Jews. They look like Jews, and, 
like them also, are great money-makers. They are 
very prosperous, intelligent, good-looking, and well 
dressed, — the men in European dress, except that they 
wear a peculiar cap of their own, — and the women 
dress in beautifully draped loose garments. They are 
educated, enlightened, and apparently fine people, — 
many of them very rich, — and live in elegant homes 
with large beautiful grounds. They are the aristocracy 
of Bombay. I speak of all this because I want you 
to see the people before I tell you of their religion. 

They are fire-worshipers, — the modern followers of 
Zoroaster. They claim they do not worship the fire 



India 113 

itself, but that they worship one supreme God who 
is all glory, all light, all effulgence; and that fire is 
the symbol of this glory. Therefore they worship 
God through this symbolic fire. They have a temple 
in which the sacred fire, which they claim came down 
from heaven to Zoroaster, is still kept burning, — 
tended by priests who never allow it to go out. 

They believe that the elements, — the earth, the air, 
the fire, — are all sacred, and must not be polluted. 
So they cannot bury their dead, because that would 
pollute the earth by corruption. They cannot burn 
them, because that would pollute the air and the fire. 
So they expose them naked, on the tops of their towers 
of silence, to be devoured by the vultures. We drove 
to Malabar Hill, in the fashionable Parsee residence 
part of the city, and by special permit were admitted 
to the walled enclosure where there are five of these 
towers. The top of the tower has a sort of closed 
railing, or wall, around it, which conceals the horrors 
within; and on this wall sat the vultures, waiting for 
their next feast. There are about 700 of them, we 
were told. 

A good-looking, gentlemanly Parsee guide explained 
to us from a model of the interior of a tower just 
how the bodies were placed and left there, and said 
that in two hours the vultures had completed their 
part of the work. Then the bones were left to dry 
in the sun for eight days, when they are thrown 
into the hollow center of the tower, where they are 
covered with chloride of lime and an acid, which soon 



114 Glimpses of Many Lands 

reduces them to dust. Then the rains wash the dust 
through the drains, where it is filtered through char- 
coal, then sand, — and returns to the elements pure! 
There! How do you like that for a grewsome story? 
But it is all true, — and more might be told. 

Just as our guide finished explaining to us, a pro- 
cession, all dressed in white, came into the enclosure. 
Four men all in white carrying a white litter on 
which was a body covered with white, and followed 
by people dressed in white. We were invited to 
withdraw, — which we willingly did, as the vultures 
had seen them too, and were getting ready. A little 
way outside of the gate we met a similar procession 
going in. So much for Bombay. 

Our next trip took us southeast from Bombay, a 
ride of nearly twenty-four hours to Secunderabad. 
We left Bombay on a night train, and it was 6 p. m. 
the next day when we arrived at our destination. 
The night ride was comfortable, but the day was 
terribly hot. We began to realize, for the first time, 
something of the heat of India, of which we had heard 
so much. It was like one of our most melting days 
in August at home. There was no diner on the train, 
and we had to get meals at railway eating-houses, 
which were far from good. There was one exception, 
— our chota hazri was brought to us on the train. I 
think I have not mentioned the fact that in the Orient 
the custom is to have a very late breakfast, — 9 o'clock, 
or half-past, being the usual hour, — so an early break- 
fast of bread and coffee, with sometimes fruit, is served 



India 115 



in the bedroom. This is called "chota hazri," which 
means "little breakfast." The later meal is called 
"bara hazri," or "great breakfast." We often did all 
our forenoon sight-seeing before the later meal. 

We reached Secunderabad at 6 p. m., and were taken 
in automobiles to the poorest excuse for a hotel that 
we had had in India. The next morning, after a two- 
hours' automobile ride, we began to wonder what we 
had come there for; as it was terribly hot, and nothing 
of interest to. see. We drove out to the old fort at 
Golconda, and walked up four hundred or more steps 
under a broiling sun, and even then could not see any- 
thing worth while. But it was the same old Golconda 
whose long-ago famous diamond mines gave rise to the 
saying about "all the riches of Golconda." 

The native city of Hyderabad is near by, and we 
drove through that. It is the capital of the richest 
and most important state of the southern half of India, 
the Deccan. The ruler is called the Nizam, and he 
rules over a territory of 80,000 square miles, and has a 
yearly salary or revenue of eight million pounds ster- 
ling! This sounds like a terribly exaggerated state- 
ment, but it was told us for truth. And the marvel 
to us is, where does it come from in this barren, dry, 
rock-built sort of a region, which looks as if it could 
not produce enough for the natives to exist on? And 
the Nizam supports in luxury four wives, twenty-seven 
children, and a hundred concubines. We found one 
day quite sufficient in the country of the Nizam, and 
early the next morning left for an all day and night 



Ii6 Glimpses of Many Lands 

ride to Madras. If you have followed closely the time 
I have given for each of these trips, you will have 
decided that India is indeed a country "of magnificent 
distances"; and we long ago realized why we had to 
travel so much at night, — not only because it was 
cooler, but our time required it. Besides, there was 
very little to interest one through the country after the 
first few days, as it was practically the same every- 
where, outside of the hill country. 

We came into India near the northern part of the 
east coast, at Calcutta; went north to the Himalaya 
Mountains, and back to Benares; then zigzagged north 
and south for a distance of twenty-five hundred miles 
to Bombay, on the west coast. This took four weeks; 
and in all that distance we did not see any place that in 
the United States would be called a good farming 
country. On the contrary it was all what we would 
call very poor. 

It is the dry season in all of India, — the rainy season 
is in July, August, and September, and last summer 
there was much less rain than usual, so that it was 
very dry and terribly dusty everywhere. They say 
the rainfall has not been sufficient any year of the 
past ten. Consequently many wells are dry, and 
there is great lack of water all over the country. 
Many streams are also dried up. Much of the coun- 
try is stony and barren-looking, and it is a continual 
source of wonder to us how it can possibly produce 
enough for 300,000,000 people to exist upon, much 
less to live like human beings. There is not a blade 



I 



India 117 

of grass to be seen, and immense herds of cattle, 
sheep, and goats are trying to graze on bare ground. 
They are all so poor it is pitiful to see them, and unless 
unusual rains come, many must die of starvation. 
Of course things look different from this dreary 
picture, during the rainy season, — but this is the pic- 
ture for more than half of the year. 

Then we took a diagonal trip from the west coast 
at Bombay to the southeast coast at Madras, and this 
seemed not quite so bad; at least the latter part of 
it — the farming country — seemed better. Here we saw 
fields of cotton, — most of it picked, — and crossed two 
good streams of water which certainly did look good 
in a parched and dusty land. 

In Madras we drove around and saw the city, 
but did not do any special things. It is the chief 
commercial city of the southeast coast, and there 
are many foreigners there. 

Went to a Hindu temple, and on the way stopped 
to see our second Juggernaut car, — the first one was 
in Benares. This one was much larger, and had six 
very large wooden wheels. When it is used in one 
of their religious festivals it takes three hundred men 
to draw it. Here we visited the old church — Catholic 
— which covers the spot where, tradition sa-ys, the 
Apostle Thomas was buried. 

We left Madras in the evening of the second day, 
by train, for our last trip in India, which would take 
us three days; but making three stops of part of a day 
each. Our home remained on the car, where we had a 



Ii8 Glimpses of Many Lands 

comfortable compartment; and we got our meals at 
the railway eating-houses. 

On this stage of the journey the country was differ- 
ent, being not far from the coast. There was plenty of 
water, and vegetation was green; but it was very hot. 
Here we saw rice fields in every stage of growth from 
planting to harvest. 

Our first stop was for about six hours at Tanjore, 
where we drove to the oldest Hindu temple in southern 
India, it having been built in the eleventh century, of 
granite and stucco. It is 215 feet high and is sur- 
mounted by a globe-like dome, cut from one block of 
granite, which weighs eighty tons. They say it was 
brought to its position on an inclined plane of four 
miles, and that it took twelve years to move it there. 
It was then cut and carved while in place. 

The whole temple is immense, and is covered with 
carvings of abominable figures. In these temple 
grounds is Siva's granite bull, which weighs thirty 
tons. Near by is a Christian church, built in 1779, 
inside of which is a marble tablet to the memory of 
Frederic Christian Schwartz, a Danish missionary of 
that date. 

This temple is one of the three greatest of the Dra- 
vidian temples which we were to visit. The next was 
at Trichinopoly, which we reached after a two-hours' 
ride in our nice little car-compartment home. 

This temple was much like the one at Tanjore, and 
I will not stop to speak of it, — though it was great. 

Stayed at Trichinopoly until 8 p.m., then our car was 



India 119 

hitched on to a train for Madura, which we reached 
in the early morning. Here we visited the greatest 
Dravidian temple in southern India, — the largest and 
most elaborate of all; aside from the size, however, 
they are all very much alike. 

Now I do not want to give you the impression that 
all the temples are so large and magnificent as these 
which I describe, — or mention. On the contrary the 
great majority of them are small, but we do not take 
the time to more than glance at them as we pass, 
though they answer the purposes of Hinduism just as 
well, for there is no associated or general worship. 
The chief object of interest in the temple, to the Hindu, 
is the shrine of the god. The priest officiates for the 
people, who come and go, spending but a few minutes 
before the idol, to bow and perhaps utter a prayer, 
and then hand an offering to the priest. 

One writer has said, "The priest, who must be a 
Brahman, is practically the worshiper for the people 
and serves them as a proxy, and so thorough a substi- 
tute does he become that the interested person need 
not necessarily remain to witness the ceremony. The 
priest rings a bell before the image to announce his 
presence, utters some words, makes an offering of 
flowers and water to the god, and treats the idols as 
though they were living beings. They bathe the im- 
age, clothe it, serve it with a meal in the morning, at 
noon, and in the evening, and it is put to bed at night. 
It is also entertained with music and dancing." Isn't 
that a frivolous human god to worship ? From Madura 



I20 Glimpses of Many Lands 

we had a five-hour run which took us to Tuticorin, — 
our last stop in India, — where we took the steamer for 
Ceylon. 

The"Palitana" was anchored about six miles out, and 
we had to go out to it in a small launch. The sea was 
very rough, and we had a lively time going that six 
miles. The little boat dipped and plunged, and some 
of the passengers got "good and wet," and some even 
got seasick. But we reached the steamer safely, and 
were soon on board and settled for a fifteen-hour trip, 
which did not look very promising for comfort, as the 
sea was really rough, and the boat quite small. It 
continued rough all night, and almost every one on 
board acknowledged in the morning that he had been 
sick. But we kept up our good record, and were both 
at breakfast on time. 

Reached Colombo at about lo a. m. and came in 
automobiles to this hotel, where we are most delight- 
fully situated for a two-weeks' rest, though of course 
we will not stay here all that time. 

Our hotel is the best in the city, located right on the 
seashore, and our room looks out on to the water, which 
makes it seem cool even on the hottest days. The 
Raymond-Whitcomb Company gives us the best hotels 
in every city, and the "square deal" in everything. 



XI 

Ceylon 

On board the 
North German Lloyd Steamship. 
"Derflinger" 
March 17, 1914. Two days out from Colombo. 

We have said good by to the Orient, and are now on 
our way to our own side of the world; and as usual, 
I am going to utilize part of the spare time by getting 
all my letters answered, and my general letter brought 
up to date. 

We left the harbor of Colombo the night of the 
15th with a clear sky and a smooth sea, and it has 
continued so ever since, — and we are hoping that it 
will continue to continue so for nine days more. 

We have gone nearly straight west on the Indian 
Ocean these two days, — will go a little north of west 
until we reach the Red Sea, then nearly north to Port 
Said, where we take the train for a land trip to Cairo. 

We were twelve days in Ceylon, and found it a very 
lovely place to stay, but too hot at this season of the 
year when the sun is almost above, — it will be vertical 
there in April, and the hottest then. December is 
the best time to be there, — when the sun is as far south 
as it gets. Ceylon is just as far north of the equator 
as Java is south, but it is a great deal hotter than Java 
was when we were there. The climate and vegetation 

121 



122 Glimpses of Many Lands 

of Ceylon are about the same as Java, subject to the 
same variations of seasons and rains. But it seemed 
like a more civilized region than Java, — perhaps because 
it has been under English rule for so long, and there are 
so many English-speaking people there. 

We spent one week of the time in Colombo, and 
nearly a week in Kandy, up among the mountains. 
The rest of the party took a trip north about a hundred 
miles, in automobiles, to see some old ruins; but we 
thought the "ruins" would probably be best seen in 
the automobiles if we took the trip in the heat, so 
wisely — as it proved — remained at Kandy among the 
mountains and beside a lake. 

The island is a flat country for fifty miles or more 
from the ocean, on all sides; then hilly, rising to moun- 
tains of over 8000 feet in the center; so that it is cooler 
with such vegetation as grows in a hill region, toward 
the center, while the flat country has the tropical 
vegetation. 

The chief products of the island are cocoanuts, 
cocoa, rice, bananas, rubber, and tea. We decided 
that Ceylon is the most typically and luxuriantly 
tropical of all the places we have seen, — not even ex- 
cepting Java, — perhaps because it seems to be better 
cultivated, and has more the appearance of civiliza- 
tion. The natives seem to be the most prosperous 
and nearest like real men and women of any place 
we have seen in India, — for Ceylon is really a part of 
India, and its people are about like them in appear- 
ance, though they are called* Cinghalese. They are 



Ceylon 123 

better dressed and more intelligent-looking. In the 
cities many wear European dress, and most of them 
speak English, and it seems quite like an English 
colony. Of course the country and village people are 
different, and not so advanced, but we saw very few 
naked children anywhere. 

You have all heard of the famous tea estate of 
Sir Thomas Lipton. It is in the hill country around 
Kandy, and comprises over 6000 acres. I was inter- 
ested in studying how the tea is grown, picked, etc. 
The shrubs grow about two or three feet high, when 
they are ready for picking. In the lower hill slopes 
— up to about 2000 feet altitude — they mature for 
picking in two years; in higher regions it requires three 
and four years. 

About a year before picking begins, the shrubs are 
cut down to within nine inches of the ground, and 
grow up, all new wood, which makes it fresh and full 
of juice. When picking begins, they are picked clean 
every nine or ten days for two years. Then they are 
cut down again, and allowed to rest for a year, and 
grow new wood. 

The frequent pickings — every nine or ten days — 
is to always have new leaves. The young, yellow leaves 
on the tips of new sprigs are picked separately, and 
make the best and highest-priced tea. These are 
called "golden tips" and often bring an almost fabu- 
lous price. After picking, it goes through numerous 
drying, rolling, and firing processes. 

Ceylon, like Java, is wonderful in its flowering trees 



1 24 Glimpses of Many Lands 

and shrubs, but not many flowers of the garden 
varieties. There are many trees as large as our largest 
elms and oaks that are perfectly gorgeous in red, 
yellow, pink, or white blossoms. One of the most 
interesting ones is called the cannon-ball tree. It 
looks quite like our cottonwood, except that its trunk 
is covered with great salmon-pink blossoms about 
four inches across, — five-petaled, much like a wild 
rose, except in size. These produce big brown nuts 
as large as a good-sized cocoanut, and perfectly round, 
growing out from the trunk only, on a short stem. 
It is a very odd sight. 

The botanical garden at Kandy is world-famous, 
and certainly does contain wonderful things in vege- 
tation. It is not at Kandy either, but is about four 
miles out, at a little place called Peradeniya. We saw 
growing, nutmegs, cinnamon, cloves, vanilla beans, 
allspice, pepper, cocoa, tea, coffee, etc., and all the 
time through the garden I kept humming: — 

What though the spicy breezes 

Blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle, 
And every prospect pleases, 

And only man is vile. 

And that reminds one, that Bishop Heber, the Reginald 
Heber of hymn-writing fame, who wrote, 

From Greenland's icy mountains, 
From India's coral strands, 

lived much of his life in India, and died in South India, 
at Trichinopoly. We were at the church where he 



Ceylon 125 

preached his last sermon, and saw the place where 
he was drowned a few hours later. 

But I have disgressed from the botanical garden. 
I wanted to tell of one particular kind of palm. By 
the way, it was news to us to learn that there are over 
a hundred diiferent kinds of palms. Most of them are 
found in Ceylon, — but the majestic Talipot palm is 
found only in Ceylon, I think, — at least I cannot 
find any record of it anywhere else. 

The first ten years of its life it produces only leaves, 
— a bunch of immense fans, each one at least fifteen 
feet across. Then it begins to develop a stem or 
trunk, which grows as straight as a ship's mast, 
from 90 to 100 feet high. As the tree grows in height, 
the size of the leaves diminish somewhat. When it is 
between fifty and sixty years old, it begins to show 
an immense bud, which rises on a stem until it is about 
four feet above the crown of leaves. This opens with 
a loud report, and frees a magnificent cluster of cream- 
white blossoms which is at least twenty feet high, — 
I mean the blossom alone is that high, above the leaves. 
The bloom lasts about three months, — getting brown 
as it grows older, — then produces a lot of nuts which 
are of no particular use. As these ripen, the leaves 
begin to droop, and within a year the grand tree is 
dead! Another instance of "and in blooming, it 
dies." But when it is young its great leaves have 
many uses. It is said that the natives count 108 uses 
for them, — chief among them being the use for shade, 
and shelter from rain. We saw two in bloom, one just 



1 26 Glimpses of Many Lands 

the great bunch of leaves, and a whole avenue of them 
with large trunks. 

Ceylon was most interesting as a place to study- 
things that grow, — but too hot to do the studying. 
So we were glad to get away, and to get started to- 
ward the north and west again. 

This has been written at intervals, until now it is 
our tenth day out, and we are in the Suez Canal. We 
have had a perfectly fine trip, — smooth sea all the way, 
a lovely boat, not hot any of the time, and nobody 
sick a minute. Have been on the Indian Ocean, the 
Arabian Sea, and the Red Sea. The Suez Canal is 90 
miles long, and wide enough for two large vessels to 
meet and pass easily; but as there is so much traffic on 
it, we have to travel very slowly. 

We expect to reach Port Said to-morrow, and I am 
going to have my letters all mailed on this boat, to 
give them a good start. Will write again at Cairo. 



XII 

Egypt 

"Shepheard's." 
Cairo, Egypt, April lo, 1914. 

My last letter was mailed on the steamer, just before 
reaching Port Said, where we landed about noon, and 
spent the afternoon there, — which was long enough. 
It is one of the most important seaports in the world, 
as the entrance to the Suez Canal; but otherwise is not 
at all interesting. An afternoon spent in going about 
in the business center made us dizzy, with the whirl 
of different kinds of people and color, — a great kaleido- 
scope, in which are mingled the people of all nations, 
— plus their noises, which are beyond describing. 

Came to Cairo by railroad that evening, March 
26th. It was late when we reached here, so did not 
see the city till the next day. But "to see it is to love 
it," and we still feel the same after more than two 
weeks. 

It is a great modern city, in many respects, of more 
than half a million people. But it has its ancient 
part too — called Old Cairo — and its ancient surround- 
ings; and from their appearance one would say many 
of its ancient people also. 

The modern part has fine streets, good buildings, 
street cars, automobiles, etc., while the new residence 
suburbs have elegant residences and fine apartment 

127 



128 Glimpses of Many Lands 

buildings, — not of Europeans only, but of Egyptians 
and other nationalities, for it is a cosmopolitan city. 

We spent our first day in driving about Cairo in 
carriages, stopping at several of the principal mosques, 
both of the ancient and modern ones; for Cairo is a 
city of mosques, being one of the principal strongholds 
of Mohammedanism. There are more than five hun- 
dred in the city. The largest is the Sultan Hassan 
Mosque, built in 1356, — finished then, as it was many 
years in building. It is a fine specimen of the archi- 
tecture of that time, — immense, and wonderful in its 
day, but some parts now partly in ruin and being 
"restored," as they call it in the East. 

The next one visited was the Alabaster Mosque, in 
the "citadelle," or fort. It is very beautiful and 
modern, having been finished in 1857. It was built 
after the model of St. Sophia's, in Constantinople. 

The citadel was built in 1156 on a very high bluff, 
and from the wall of it we had a grand view of the city 
and the surrounding country, — our first view of the 
Nile River and the Pyramids! It was a grand sight, 
before which all others paled into insignificance for 
the time, — Egypt, the Nile, the Pyramids, Cairo, — 
and we seeing them! That was all we saw of Cairo 
that day, as we started that evening for our trip up 
the Nile — six hundred miles — to Assuan and the great 
dam. We went by rail, as it was too late in the sea- 
son to go by boat. We saved time by going at night, 
but we returned in daylight to see the country. 

We reached Luxor at 8 the next morning, and went 



Egypt 129 

to the beautiful Winter Palace Hotel for breakfast, 
where we got our mail; then boarded the train again 
for another six-hours' trip to Assuan, situated at the 
Second Cataract of the Nile. 

And now I am beginning the greatest task of our 
trip: to write about Egypt — to write in such ab- 
breviated and condensed form as I must, and yet to 
give you an idea, at least, of this ancient, most inter- 
esting of all wonderlands. I realize that I can "touch 
only the high places," as it were, but will try to make 
you see some of these. 

First, the famous Valley of the Nile — for the Valley 
of the Nile is Egypt, the rest is desert. It varies in 
width, between Assuan and Cairo, from a mile or 
less at Assuan to twenty miles in some places; and 
from Cairo the delta widens out to a hundred miles or 
more at Alexandria and the coast. This used to all 
be watered by the overflow of the Nile only, — as it 
seldom rains in Egypt at all, — only an occasional 
shower, which comes as a surprise, and does not amount 
to much; but now, since the great dam was built just 
above the Second Cataract, the irrigation system en- 
ables them to control the overflow by means of canals 
and ditches, and so they have abundance of water to 
let out over the land for irrigation at all seasons. 

The soil is practically bottomless, and the crops are 
immensely heavy, — wheat, barley, and alfalfa being 
the principal ones, though in the delta there is much 
corn and cotton. One strange feature of the fields 
is the sight of crops in all stages of growth, — wheat, 



130 Glimpses of Many Lands 

from the tender, young, green blade, to that which is 
ready to harvest, — all because there is no frost and it 
has plenty of water at all times, so that the season for 
it is not limited. There are groves of figs and oranges 
in the delta region, but the principal fruit of the rest 
of the valley is the date, — groves of date palms every- 
where. The tree is similar to the cocoanut palm, only 
not so tall, and the trunk is rough. The farming is 
done just as it was three thousand years ago, and the 
people in the fields look just like the pictures in our old 
testaments, and we often exclaim, "See Abraham!" 
We were continually being reminded of Bible accounts 
of things, as when we saw great flocks of sheep and 
goats — always feeding together — one involuntarily 
quoted, "As a shepherd divideth his sheep from the 
goats"; and the "two women grinding at the mill" was 
a common sight. Then there were the camels and don- 
keys as beasts of burden; oxen plowing with a plow 
that looked like a crooked stick; great wells with oxen, 
or sometimes a camel, drawing the water; a threshing 
floor with oxen treading out the grain; and many other 
things referred to in the Bible. 

We saw many long caravans of camels going into 
the city heavily laden, and many returning empty- 
saddled. All traffic is carried on from farm to market by 
camels and donkeys. We did not see a cart or wagon 
in the country, and there are no roads, — only paths. 

Assuan is at the Second Cataract, where the valley 
grows very narrow, — sometimes no valley at all, but 
just the river channel between high rocky banks. Our 



Egypt 131 

first trip there was a ride by railroad of about twenty 
minutes up the river, where we got into a big row- 
boat above the dam, and were rowed across the great 
reservoir-lake to the ancient Egyptian Temple of Isis, 
called Philse, built about 350 B. C. It used to stand 
on dry land, but the building of the dam forced the 
waters to spread out into a great lake, so the temple is 
sometimes almost covered. The water was unusually 
low when we were there, and they said we were very 
fortunate, as parts of it stood twenty and thirty feet 
above the water. It was one of the most beautiful 
of the Egyptian temples, and the parts now above the 
water show some very fine carving of true Egyptian 
characters and figures. We climbed up on it — by 
ladders from our boat — and saw all we could of it. 

From the temple we were rowed to the dam, then 
crossed the river on the dam in little cars on a track, 
— the cars pushed by Arabs. The dam is a mile and a 
quarter long, I48>^ feet high, 120 feet wide at the 
bottom, and 40 feet wide at the top. It has 180 sluices 
which can be opened in groups of ten each. Only two 
groups were open when we were there, and the water 
was rushing through them with tremendous power. 
When all are open it discharges 31,800 tons per min- 
ute. It is built just above what was the Second 
Cataract, but the river bed there now is just heaps of 
stones with a little water running through them. The 
reservoir above holds many billions of gallons. 

We got into the boat below the dam, and were 
rowed down the river by six Arabs, who entertained 



132 Glimpses of Many Lands 

us with songs. We went through one lock, past the 
First Cataract. There are locks to pass the dam also. 
The boat trip left us at the landing of the splendid 
Cataract Hotel, where we had a lovely room looking 
out on the Nile on one side, and a great mass of white 
and red oleanders on the other. The hotel grounds 
are a perfect bower of blooming things, and the table is 
good also. I forgot to say that as we came down in 
the boat, one thing which attracted our attention was 
the great rocky hills on the west bank drifted full of 
bright yellow sand — almost orange — from the desert. 
And it impressed on us the thought that without 
the Nile all Egypt would be a desert. 

We took another boat ride, going around Elephan- 
tine Island, and saw many things of interest. But 
the dam and the Temple of Isis are the two chief things 
to see in Assuan; so we left there and went back to 
Luxor, — the place the guide-books call "the Mecca 
of Egyptologists," — for here have been discovered and 
unearthed more things which have thrown light on 
Bible history — and other ancient history — than in al- 
most any other place. 

Here we stopped at the Luxor Winter Palace, — 
under the same management as the Cataract, and 
almost as fine. The grounds are even lovelier. 

Spent all the next forenoon at the wonderful Temple 
of Luxor, built about 1575 B. C. Of course it cannot 
be described in my limited space, — and with my 
limited ability to appreciate its value. I could only 
gaze in wonder that man could do such things 3500 



Egypt 133 

years ago, — that he could quarry, carve, move to place, 
and put in place, stones much larger than we now see 
handled by modern machinery! Then the pictures 
and the carvings which are cut into these immense 
columns, and slabs, and statues, give so definitely 
many points in the history of the world that one's 
hair almost rises up as our guide reads those old 
hieroglyphics just about as easily as I read English. 
This great temple has been almost entirely covered for 
ages, and it is only in recent years that it has been un- 
earthed; in fact, it is not nearly all uncovered yet, 
and work is still going on at this and the temples of 
Karnak, near by. 

We spent the afternoon of the same day at Karnak, 
and it is similar, only more, and even larger. They 
are also older, for some of these were built as early as 
2433 B. C. These cover a vast area, and some schol- 
ars calculate that when they are all uncovered they 
will be found to occupy at least a thousand acres. 

Here the stones are even larger than at the Temple 
of Luxor. There is a hall of pillars — 134 of them — 
the inner row of which is each 60 feet high and 35 
feet in circumference. Then there are the two obelisks 
of Queen Hatshepsut, set up about 1350 B. C, one 
still standing and as perfect as if put there yesterday, 
the other fallen and broken. The one standing is a 
solid shaft of polished granite 105 feet high, and 8>^ 
feet square at the base. It is one solid stone, carved 
with the queen's "cartouche," or name, in hiero- 
glyphics, and also important items of history during 



134 Glimpses of Many Lands 

her reign. And as we gaze we ask, How did that stone 
get put in place? 

The ancients regarded the Nile as sacred. With 
them the East typified the rising sun, light, life, resur- 
rection. The West meant setting sun, darkness, and 
death. The obelisk was the symbol of life, and the 
pyramid meant death and the tomb. Hence all the 
obelisks are east of the river, and the pyramids and 
tombs are west of it. Isn't that interesting.'* 

The day after this we crossed the river for our most 
thrilling trip of all, — to the ruins of ancient Thebes, 
and the valley of the tombs of the kings. There is 
little left of Thebes except some ruins of temples and 
statues, so we did not stay there long. Here the rest 
of the party got on donkeys, and one lady with us 
went in a sort of covered cart with broad-tired wheels, 
as we had to go through sand until we reached the hills; 
then a sandy, stony road the rest of the way. 

Remember, we crossed to the west side of the river. 
When we reached the hills which mark the limit of 
the desert, the valley wound for several miles, still 
toward the west, — the symbol of death. All is death! 
The mountains are bare, barren rocks, — not a sprig 
of green visible anywhere. 

There are hundreds of these rock-tombs, — kings, 
queens, and nobles, — but we went down into only 
two, which was enough to show us what all are like. 
The first was the tomb of Amenophis H. of the i8th 
dynasty. We entered a gate into the opening in the 
side of the mountain, went down a flight of steps, 



Egypt 135 

then down a steep incline, then more steps, another in- 
cline and more steps, until we had gone down seventy- 
one steps and many inclines, when we entered a 
large room with high walls, and ceiling painted blue 
and studded with stars. The walls of this room — and 
of the entire length of the entrance-way, — were closely 
covered with carvings in the stone, of hieroglyphics 
and pictures recounting the deeds of valor, the life, 
religion, and history of the king and his times. Our 
guide was a scholar and could read much of it, which 
somewhat prepared us for the sight which next met 
our eyes. There in his sarcophagus lay the mummied 
body of the king, who died 3500 years ago! Not an 
imitation, but the real body of the real king! I know 
this, for I saw it. It is not as if one read of it, or heard 
some one tell it, — but we actually saw it; and now 
nothing else can ever seem wonderful, it seems! The 
mummy case and mummy clothes were taken from the 
face, and we saw the real face, though brown. In 
another chamber cut in the rock, and opening out from 
this one, we saw the embalmed bodies of three prison- 
ers who were killed at the moment the king died, so 
that they might bear the sufferings of death and the 
king go painless to Paradise. Great thought, wasn't it? 
The second one we went into was the tomb of Seti I, 
of the 19th dynasty, about 1450 B. C. The tomb is 
similar to the one described, but the sarcophagus and 
mummy are not there. The former is in the British 
Museum in London, and the latter in the museum 
here, — we saw it later. 



136 Glimpses of Many Lands 

On the return trip from the tombs we stopped at 
the old temple called the Rameseum, because it con- 
tains so many statues of Rameses II. Saw the broken 
giant statue of him, — all from one solid block of 
granite,-^which, by the measurements of a French 
scientist, weighed one thousand tons! There was 
heaps more that was worth writing of on that trip; 
but must stop somewhere, so might just as well do it 
now. 

When we got back to Cairo our first trip was by auto- 
mobile to the Pyramids across the river — the Pyra- 
mids are on the west side, you see — and over a good 
boulevard road, with fine residences on each side, and 
immense trees all the way. It was about seven miles 
there, — a surprise to me, as I had always supposed them 
farther from Cairo. The great Pyramids of Gizeh are 
just like they have always been pictured and de- 
scribed. I could not add anything new. And the 
Sphinx looked just as wise as ever and did not say a 
word. We did not climb up, or go inside of the 
Pyramids, but we got on the backs of camels and rode 
around them. The funny thing about them is the 
incongruity of a modern tourist hotel, a golf ground, 
and a tennis court, almost at their base. They are 
just at the edge of the desert. O, yes! a trolley car 
runs out to them, also. 

The next day we spent the forenoon at the museum, 
which is a vast collection of things from the temples 
and tombs. It is a wonderful place for the student of 
research, but I have not time to tell of its wonders now. 



Egypt 137 

In the afternoon we all drove out to Heliopolis, 
the site of the Bible city of On, where Moses was 
educated "in all the learning of the Egyptians," — 
but which is now the most beautiful and modern 
suburb of Cairo, — about five miles out. Its only an- 
cient thing now left is one fine obelisk, set up about 
1500 B. C. 

On the way out we stopped at a Mohammedan 
Dervish monastery to see the performance of the 
dancing dervishes, — a religious ceremony performed 
on Friday, their holy day. It was held in a circular 
enclosure in the center of a large room. There were 
twenty-four bearded men, — some with very white 
beards, — all dressed in white with very full skirt and 
a blouse, and over this a long, full cloak, and a tall light- 
brown cap. One was dressed as a priest, and had a 
green turban wound around his cap. They entered 
the circle in single file, and sat down close around the 
outside of the circle. One voice in a gallery kept up 
a weird chanting, and soon he was joined by a drum 
and flute. The men rose, threw off their cloaks, went 
around the circle three times very slowly, each stop- 
ping in front of the priest and bowing and going 
through other motions. When they had all been 
around three times, they went one at a time to the 
priest, went through some kind of a ceremony with 
him, then with uplifted arms whirled into the center 
of the circle, and kept on whirling, still with arms up, 
one after another doing this until all were whirling in 
a mass. We watched them until we were dizzy, then 



138 Glimpses of Many Lands 

left; but we were told that they were not allowed to 
"dance" longer than half an hour. They used to 
keep it up until they would fall from exhaustion, but 
the government stopped that, and put a limit on the 
time they may whirl. They were all very reverent and 
serious, and we were warned not to even smile. That 
day ended our Raymond-Whitcomb tour. After this, 
when I say "we" it will mean simply C. F. and myself. 

One day since, a party of five of us hired a guide 
and went to Sakara, on the site of the ancient city of 
Memphis. It was about an hour by train, then an 
hour by sand carts, — two-wheeled, very v/ide-tired 
carts, drawn by a donkey, and each carrying two 
persons. 

Memphis was once a very large city, supposed to 
have covered twenty miles square, — the oldest city of 
which we have any record, and said to have been 
founded by Mena, the first king of Egypt, about 
4400 B. C. There are still some ruins of temples to 
be seen. 

Then we went on, another hour's ride farther into 
the desert, where we went into some more tombs of 
kings, and the most wonderful of all, — the tombs of 
the sacred bulls. 

There is one great room, — a tunnel or long chamber 
in the rock, about a quarter of a mile long, with rooms 
off from either side of it, — one for each of the twenty- 
four sacred bulls which were buried there 3700 years 
ago. They were embalmed and mummied, just the 
same as the kings, and the sarcophagus of each one 



Egypt 139 

was made from a single block of granite, each weighing 
sixty-five tons ! How did they get them there ? Down 
in the caves hewn out of solid rock; miles out in the 
desert! But they are there. I saw them. 

Then we crossed that part of the desert, back by 
another route, which took us two hours and a half 
back to the Pyramids, where we left the sand carts; 
and we returned to Cairo by trolley, reaching Shep- 
heard's about 6 p. m., too tired for words to express it, 
but feeling that it had been a great day. 

The next day the same party and guide drove out 
through old Cairo, visiting many places and things, 
among them the traditional site of Pharoah's house, 
and the spot where Pharoah's daughter found Moses 
among the rushes. On the way back we stopped at 
the English and American cemetery to see the grave 
of William Borden, who died here just a year ago 
yesterday. We had heard much about him from the 
missionaries here, who loved him deeply. 

And that brings me to a large subject which I could 
write many pages upon if I had the time, — the Egypt 
of to-day. We have spent quite a good deal of time, 
in the two weeks we have been here, with the people 
of the American Mission; have become well acquainted 
with a lot of them, and they have been very nice to us. 
Perhaps you all know that the United Presbyterians 
were among the first, if not the very first, to send 
missionaries to the Nile Valley, and that they occupy 
the field here almost exclusively. And I want to tes- 
tify right here that they have done, and are doing, a 



140 Glimpses of Many Lands 

great work. They have churches, schools, colleges, 
and theological seminaries at all the principal towns 
from Alexandria to Kartoum, — not all of these at every 
town, I did not mean that, but some of them at each 
town. In Cairo they have a large central building which 
is headquarters for their work, and at which most of 
the missionaries live. Then they have many different 
kinds of work and schools in all parts of the city. 

They have taken us to their schools and colleges, 
and we have attended their prayer meeting, the 
Christian Endeavor meeting, a young men's social, 
and various Sunday services in the Arabic, Armenian, 
Italian, and English languages. I also went with two 
of the ladies and a native Bible woman to a woman's 
prayer meeting in a Mohammedan home, — the man 
of the house a Mohammedan, but his wife a Christian. 
This was an interesting experience. 

One Sunday while here we attended service at a 
Coptic church. We could not understand any of it, 
but we cannot in a Roman Catholic church, and this 
was much like it in many respects. From there we 
went to an Arabic service at the mission. Then took 
a carriage, and one of the ladies went with us to the 
Folali church, which has outgrown its building and has 
to hold service in a big tent, which was crowded. 
From there to the Girls' College where we attended the 
meeting of the girls' Christian Endeavor — a fine-looking 
roomful of young girls. Then to an orphanage where 
there were forty-one girls, and back to the mission 
house, where we looked in on the Waldensian service. 



Egypt 141 

But this is enough to show you that we were in- 
terested in modern as well as ancient Egypt; and we 
saw enough of it to make us feel that it is the live 
question in Egypt that should be of vital interest to all 
of us to-day. 

We took a trip to Alexandria one day, but as it is 
just a great seaport, I shall not take time to write of it. 

We have one more day here, and expect to start for 
Palestine on the 12th. I will try to write one letter 
from the latter part of that trip. And now I am done. 
I hope I have not wearied you with my long spin. I 
have spent nearly the whole day on it. 



XIII 

. Palestine 

Beyrout, Syria, May 2, 1914. 

I intended to write this letter while on the next 
steamer, but we have a day longer here than we planned 
for, and I have nearly all day with nothing to do; so I 
am going to get my letter written and mailed, and it 
will get started for home almost a week sooner than 
if I mail it in Constantinople. We expect to leave 
to-night for that port, and will be four days on the 
boat, — stopping at the island of Rhodes, and at 
Smyrna. 

My last gave our story up to the time of leaving 
Cairo, on April 12th. Had a daylight trip to Port 
Said by rail, and so saw the country which we had 
missed in our night ride over. 

The first part of the way was through the Nile 
Valley, with fine fields and crops; then suddenly we 
went into the desert, which continued the rest of the 
way. The isthmus is all a desert, and it is nothing 
but sand on both sides of the canal the entire distance, 
— and also on both sides of the Red Sea, as far as we 
could see. 

We were glad we did not have to stay long in Port 
Said, but went at once to our boat, the "Abbassieh," 
which left about 5 p. m. for JaflPa (the ancient Joppa 
of the Bible), the port of Jerusalem. While we were 

142 



Palestine 143 



still in the canal we saw "the old flag," and on inquiry 
we learned it was flying from the yacht of James 
Gordon Bennett, — a very pretty boat. It went out 
of the canal just ahead of us. 

It is only one night's ride to Jaffa, so we were there 
early the next morning, and were fortunate in finding 
the sea smooth, and so had no trouble in landing. 
Jaffa has no docks, and all steamers have to anchor 
quite a distance out. Then the people are taken to 
shore in rowboats, which have to be rowed carefully 
between the rocks, which are many and large. When 
the sea is rough it is a dangerous trip, and sometimes 
they do not try to land — sometimes having to wait for 
days. And we have heard of cases where they either 
continued north to Haiffa, or returned to Port Said. 

We had our breakfast on the steamer, so went at 
once to the Jerusalem Hotel, where we met our guide 
who was to take entire charge of us and our belongings 
for the next three weeks. This part had all been ar- 
ranged before we left Cairo. 

He took us for a carriage drive about the town, 
which really looks old enough to be what they claim 
for it, — to be the same town where the cedars of Leb- 
anon were landed which were used in Solomon's 
temple. We went up on the roof of "the house of 
Simon the tanner, which is by the sea," — one of the 
few sites which they say are really correct and what 
they claim to be. Then we saw the traditional site of 
the house of Dorcas, or Tabitha, and her tomb. 

The chief thing of interest about Jaffa — or one of 



144 Glimpses of Many Lands 

them, at least — is the orange industry. Oranges are the 
principal crop of the region, and are certainly the best 
we have ever eaten; and we have had a good chance 
to judge of them, for we have had oranges for two 
meals of every day — and some between times — every 
day since we came into the land, and are not tired 
of them yet. They are about the only fresh fruit we 
get. 

Went "up to Jerusalem" — it is "up" — by railroad 
that afternoon; a four-hours* ride, though it is less than 
forty miles. The first hour was through the beautiful 
plain of Sharon, with orange groves, figs, and fine wheat 
fields. Then we began to climb the mountains of 
Judeah, — ^winding and twisting like all mountain roads, 
— at times very steep and rocky, but not beautiful as 
is most mountain scenery, because it was so barren; 
— not a tree, and but very little grass, just meager 
picking for sheep and goats, of which there were many. 

And here I will stop to say that the country all 
through Palestine has been a great disappointment to 
us; for instead of the "land flowing with milk and 
honey" of the Old Testament times, it is so decidedly 
the opposite that it is really painful. We have been 
the entire length of the land north from Jerusalem to 
Baalkek, to Damascus farther to the northeast, and 
across the mountains of Lebanon west to this city on 
the seacoast; and it is all barren mountains, with fer- 
tile valleys between. Sometimes the valleys are so 
narrow that we would not think them worth trying to 
cultivate; and sometimes they broaden into quite a 



Palestine 145 



plain — as the plain of Esdrelon, or Jezreel, which is 
about twenty by twelve miles. This is the largest 
cultivated area we have seen. It is very fertile, and 
is planted mostly with wheat. The lower slopes of 
the hills, near all the towns, are covered with groves 
of olive and fig trees; and there are orchards of apricot, 
pomegranate, lemons, loquots, English walnuts, and 
mulberry trees. Above these planted trees, of com- 
paratively recent times, there is not a tree of any kind 
to be seen on any hill until we come to the mountains 
of Lebanon; the slopes of these, toward the sea, have 
some pines and cedars, and in the interior, where we 
have not been, are what remains of the famous cedars 
of Lebanon. They say there are fourteen of the larg- 
est ones — 45 feet in circumference — which undoubt- 
edly date back to the time of Solomon; then about five 
hundred others, not quite so large, which are called 
"the cedars of God"; — the rest are all small. 

The mountains seem to be all rock. If they ever 
had any soil it must have been all washed into the 
valleys, and even some of these are very stony, — 
worse than a Pennsylvania farm. It seems a marvel 
to me that they can be farmed at all. The farming is 
all done in the most primitive way, — ^just as they did 
it 3,000 years ago, and every once in a while we see a 
living picture who looks as if he had just stepped out 
of the Old Testament. 

But to return to our journeyings, and our guide. 
The latter's name is Mr. Kehdar. He is a Syrian 
Christian, born in Jerusalem. He is well educated, 



146 Glimpses of Many Lands 

and is especially so in the Bible, and makes this his 
guide-book all through the country. He says Baedeker 
is good as a reference book, but the Bible is the guide- 
book. He is still with us, and will see us on board our 
boat, the "Saidieh," before he starts back to Jerusalem. 

We were eight days in Jerusalem and vicinity, and 
saw everything of interest. A letter I received there 
from one of our family, near the close wrote, "I must 
now close, and address my envelope," and added, 
"It seems such a solemn thing to address a letter to 
Jerusalem, — almost like sending it to Heaven." We 
both shouted, and C. F. said, "She would not think 
so if she were here." For it is just about as far from 
being a heavenly city as it is possible for human 
imagination to conceive of. In the first place, it has 
narrow, crooked streets, — so narrow that carriages 
can hardly get through them, — all paved with round, 
uneven stones just stuck in "any which way," so that 
it is long-drawn-out agony to either ride or walk over 
them. No sidewalks, of course, — no room for them. 

Second, they have only cisterns for their water 
supply, and almost no sanitary arrangements. Third, 
all the horses, donkeys, camels, sheep, goats, dogs, — 
and any other animals they may happen to have, or 
can get, — go in the same narrow streets with the hun- 
dred thousand population of the city, and the more 
than a hundred thousand pilgrims who were there for 
the Easter time and the Mohammedan spring festival. 
So if you can stretch your imagination to catch — even 
in the faintest degree — an idea of the "odors" of those 



Palestine 147 



streets, I don't think you would call it "heavenly." 
We went in carriages when we could, walked when we 
must, and rode through the valley of Jehoshaphat on 
donkeys. We went to all the places where tourists 
go, but most of them did not impress us with any 
great awe or feeling of solemnity, because one cannot 
be at all sure they are correct; in fact, in many places 
we are pretty sure they are not correct. 

The Catholics, — Greek and Roman, — and the Armeni- 
ans, have possession of everything, and it is graft 
everywhere. They get possession of what they call a 
site of something in the life or death of Christ, build 
a church or chapel over it, and have priests and cere- 
monies. Then the tourist, and every poor, ignorant 
pilgrim who has walked perhaps hundreds of miles, 
to visit the Holy City, must pay tribute. 

So their tomb in the church of the Holy Sepulcher, 
their Calvary, in the same church, the manger in the 
Church of the Nativity, in Bethlehem, and many 
other things of their commemorating, do not impress 
us very deeply. 

But the things which do impress us are such as 
these: the beautiful Mount of Olives, which lies just 
across the valley to the east of the city; the little town 
of Bethlehem six miles distant, somewhere in which 
the Saviour was born — the exact spot does not matter 
— and near which we saw the hills where the shepherds 
heard the song of "Peace on earth; good will to men"; 
and where even now the shepherds "watch their 
flocks by night, all seated on the ground." Near here 



148 Glimpses of Many Lands 

are the fields of Boaz, where Ruth gleaned. These 
appealed to us as genuine. Then there are the two 
principal hills on which the city is built, — ^Mount Zion 
and Mount Moriah, — still called by the same names. 
Then on the top of Mount Moriah is undoubtedly the 
site of the Temple of Solomon; and in the surroundings 
of the Mosque of Omar, which now occupies the center 
of the site, are some pillars and carvings which were 
found in excavating, which no doubt were a part of 
the temple. These all seem to be genuine, and inter- 
ested us. 

In excavating have been found old floors and parts 
of walls of ancient periods, some of which have been 
identified as of the Roman period of Christ's time. 
One of these is Pilate's judgment hall where Christ 
was condemned. We were in this hall. 

The Garden of Gethsemane is on the lower slope of 
the Mount of Olives, and is generally conceded to be 
correct. We were at the Calvary and tomb outside 
of the walls, but these, too, are uncertain. 

The only thing we could be very sure of was that 
these were the surroundings where Christ walked from 
day to day, where he lived, and where he was crucified 
and rose from the grave; and that the top of the Mount 
of Olives was the place of his ascension. 

One of our trips was by carriage, twenty miles, 
to Jericho, the Jordan River, and the Dead Sea. 
Went over the same old road which history says was 
"infested by thieves," and over which "a certain man 
went down from Jerusalem to Jericho." We stopped 



Palestine 149 



at the "Good Samaritan Inn" for a few minutes; but 
this one is only a place to buy refreshments, souvenirs, 
post-cards, etc. 

Jericho is only a little town now, a country village 
of less than five hundred people, but it no doubt is on 
the same site as the walled city of ancient times. We 
saw part of the old wall. In the afternoon we drove 
to the Jordan River and the Dead Sea, about seven 
miles. Drank of the -water of the Jordan, and waded 
in the edge of the Dead Sea, and were convinced that 
they were not fakes. The whole valley was very hot, 
— it is 1390 feet below sea level, — and about the time 
we were to start on our return to Jericho, a sudden 
heavy rain and fierce wind-storm came up, and we were 
drenched. 

We stayed in Jericho that night, and in the morning 
returned to Jerusalem, stopping at the village of 
Bethany, where we visited the traditional home of 
Martha and Mary, and went into a tomb called the 
tomb of Lazarus. 

On Sunday we went to the American church and 
heard a good sermon by Dr. Geo. L. Robinson, of 
Chicago, who is spending a year in Jerusalem. 

The following Tuesday we started for a four-days' 
trip north to the Sea of Galilee. Went in a sort of 
covered spring wagon, with our guide and small 
baggage. The first day we drove for eight hours. 
Stopped to rest and feed the horses at noon, and to 
eat our lunch, which we had brought from the hotel. 
Passed many places of interest; among them the site 



1 50 Glimpses of Many Lands 

of Bethel, and the tombs of Aaron's two sons; also 
Mizpah. Came through "the region of Samaria," 
and near Sychar we stopped at the well where Jesus 
talked with the woman of Samaria. The authorities 
say that this is without question the very same well. 
It is "deep," as the woman said then, and there is 
water in it now. The Greek Catholics have built a 
chapel over it, and we had to pay to look into it. 

About 5 p. M. we reached Nablous, which is where 
ancient Shechem was, and stayed there that night at 
a quite comfortable German hotel. Nablous is at the 
base of the sacred mountain Gerizim, — as Shechem 
was "between Ebal and Gerizim." There was not 
anything special to see there, except an old Samaritan 
synagogue, which we visited. 

The Samaritans are a peculiar people. They date 
back to about 740 B. C, when Shalmaneser, king of 
Assyria, took the Israelites of the region of Samaria 
captive, and then sent people from different provinces 
of his own kingdom to occupy their land. These 
people were pagans, and had their own gods, and built 
their "groves and high places" for worship. As years 
went by they intermarried with the Jews, and partly 
adopted the Jewish religion. Later, when the Mosaic 
law in regard to mixed marriages was enforced, a 
Jewish priest who had married a daughter of Sanballat, 
a chief of the Samaritans, headed a secession from 
Judaism, taught the people the Mosaic ritual, and 
erected a temple on Mount Gerizim. Then this mixed 
people began to claim descent from the patriarchs, and 



Palestine 151 



a share in the promise to Abraham. They adopted the 
Pentateuch and the books of Joshua and Judges as 
their sacred books. They had the advantage of living 
in this region of Shechem, as it was a place of great 
sanctity, being surrounded by the tombs and memo- 
rials of the patriarchs, and also separating the two 
portions of the Israelite people, — the Jews and the 
Galileans. So their temple on Mount Gerizim be- 
came a rival of the temple in Jerusalem, and the feeling 
between the two peoples grew to great bitterness. 

After learning all this, I could see the meaning of 
the statement in John IV that "the Jews have no 
dealings with the Samaritans," and could understand 
better what the woman of Samaria meant when she 
said, "Our fathers worshiped in this mountain," etc. 

They have always lived right there, have not inter- 
married with any other people, and they have deterio- 
rated and grown less in number, until now there are 
only about 120 of them — very poor and wretched- 
looking, though very religious. They still observe the 
Passover on Mount Gerizim. 

In their synagogue, an old priest took from a metal 
box a carefully wrapped scroll of parchment, which 
they claim is a copy of the Pentateuch written by 
Abishua, the great-grandson of Aaron, 3575 years ago. 
We looked it over carefully, but could not testify as 
to its genuineness. 

We started early the next morning for about the 
same length of drive, carrying our lunch from this 
hotel. This drive took us over mountains and through 



152 Glimpses of Many Lands 

valleys, and would have been a charming one if the 
weather had been pleasant, but unfortunately it rained 
all the forenoon, — the afternoon was clear. Among 
the interesting places passed that day was Dothan, 
where Joseph was sold by his brethren; and we passed 
from Samaria into Galilee that day. Reached Djenin, 
or Jenin, as it is pronounced, about 4 p. m., pretty cold 
and tired, as it had rained part of both days, and was 
so cold we had to keep wrapped up all the time. But 
the third day we started out with the sun shining 
brightly, and it was not so cold. 

This day the most of the journey was through the 
beautiful plain of Esdrelon. It is surrounded by moun- 
tains. On the right we saw the mountains of Gilboa, 
where Saul and Jonathan were slain. On the left was 
Mount Carmel. Then we passed ancient Shunam, 
where Elijah healed the son of the Shunamite woman. 
Then Nain, where Christ raised from the dead the 
widow's son; and many other places made interesting 
in Bible history. The whole plain was gorgeous with 
wild flowers, — as were all the valleys. 

At one place, where they stopped to water and rest 
the horses, I picked twelve variet?ies of flowers — five 
yellow, three pink, two red, and two blue. A little 
later, when we walked up a hill, I picked ten more 
varieties, — blue, white, and purple. Reached Naza- 
reth at noon, as hungry as bears. We found pretty 
good hotels at all the stops; and it was well it was so, 
for that kind of travel is certainly good for appetites. 

Nazareth is built up the slope of several hills in a 



Palestine 153 



sort of amphitheater, and looks very lovely — at a 
distance. But when one gets into the streets he finds 
it as insanitary and dirty as it is possible to imagine. 

They show the site of the home of the Holy Family, 
and of Joseph's carpenter shop. But my faith was not 
strengthened by the fact that a Greek church covered 
one, and a Roman one the other. But it was the 
ancient city of Nazareth, — even though the stone 
buildings with red- tiled roofs are new. AH the cities 
are built of stone — they do not have anything else to 
build with. We went to the top of one of the hills on 
which the town is built to see a very beautiful new 
Catholic church which is almost finished. It is of 
modern architecture, and would be an ornament to 
any of our own cities. 

The next morning we started for our last day's drive 
— only a half-day in fact, as we expected to reach 
Tiberias at noon. Nazareth was high, among the 
hills, and Tiberias is on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, 
which is 400 feet below sea level; so our drive that 
morning was mostly down hill. 

We passed through Cana, of Galilee, a nice little 
town with apricot and pomegranate orchards. Also 
passed what is believed to be the Mount of Beatitudes, 
near Tiberias. 

From the hills, before we reached Tiberias, we had a 
glorious view. We could see the Sea of Galilee entirely, 
— all around it, — the villages of Magdala and Bethsaida, 
and the ruins of Capurnaum, with snow-crowned 
Mount Hermon to the north. It was a beautiful sight. 



154 Glimpses of Many Lands 

Reached the hotel about noon, and had fish from the 
Sea of Galilee for lunch. 

Spent the afternoon on the seashore, and waded 
in the shallow water at the edge. The next morning 
we started for the boat-landing early, and at 7 o'clock 
boarded a little steamer and started for an hour's ride, 
across the sea and some distance south also, to the 
railway station on the east shore, where we boarded a 
train for Damascus. 

This was another mountain climb, as the train fol- 
lowed the windings of the canon of the river for three 
hours, when we reached a stony plain which contin- 
ued until nearly to Damascus, when we entered the 
beautiful irrigated valley — or plain — in which it is 
situated. The River Abana runs right through the 
city — the same river to which Naaman, the Syrian 
leper, referred when he said, "Are not Abana and 
Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the rivers 
of Israel.?" 

Authorities say that Damascus is the oldest con- 
tinuous city in the world, — the oldest city that has 
never been destroyed and rebuilt. There has always 
been a prosperous city of Damascus at least as far back 
as Abraham; see Genesis xv. 2. It has now 250,000 
population, and 400 mosques, — from which you will 
see that it is another Mohammedan stronghold. It 
has narrow, very crooked, ill-smelling, cobblestone- 
paved streets — even worse than Jerusalem, if that were 
possible. The only straight one is "the street which 
is called Straight," referred to in Acts ix. 11. It 



Palestine 155 



is nearly a mile long. We went up on a hill and had a 
bird's-eye view of the city; and saw the road as it comes 
from Jerusalem on which Saul of Tarsus had his vision. 
This is the real place, also. The city is in a fertile 
plain, about twenty miles each way, which is mostly 
covered by fruit trees such as I have mentioned. We 
were taken to what is said to be the house of Ananias 
who was sent to Saul, and to the window in the wall 
where Paul was let down in a basket. This last looks 
plausible, as it is evidently the old Roman wall. 

Went to a Presbyterian mission church on Sunday, 
In a carriage, through some streets so narrow that even 
the small boys had to hug the walls to let us pass. 

We visited many factories and shops, but I cannot 
take time to tell of them now. 

Tuesday morning we took a train on the Bagdad 
Railroad, northwest to Baalbek. Our guide-book 
speaks of it as "once the most populous and glorious 
city of Syria," — now only a small village with a 
magnificent ruin. Baalbek means "the assembly of 
Baal," and this great heap of ruins was once a great 
pagan temple. It was built when the Romans were 
in power. There were three Temples in one, covering 
an area of twelve acres. The temple of Jupiter was 
built in the first century — begun 56 A. D., the Temple 
of Bacchus in the second century, and the Temple of 
Venus in the third century. 

When Constantine came into power he remodeled 
them, and turned them into a Christian church. And 
later, when the Mohammedans took possession, they 



1 56 Glimpses of Many Lands 

smashed every image, mutilated every carving of a 
person, and even broke in pieces the immense pillars, 
— then used all the stone which was available to build 
a fort. But the ruins are the biggest things we have 
seen anywhere, — even those in Egypt are small in 
comparison. I do not mean that they cover a greater 
area, but many of the individual stones are the greatest 
we have seen. "The gigantic masses of limestone are 
the largest ever handled by man; and engineers of all 
ages since, have studied them, but have never been 
able to even form an opinion as to how they were 
quarried or put in place." So says our guide-book. 

For instance, in the west wall we saw three stones 
each 64 feet long, 13 feet high, and 12 feet thick, — 
each containing 350 cubic yards and weighing 750 
tons! And these three stones are placed end to end, 
more than 20 feet up from the ground, — thus building 
192 feet of that wall a height of 13 feet with three 
stones. 

Then there was a great pyramidal stone which com- 
pleted the top of an entrance, — most elaborately 
carved, — which weighed 100 tons, and was raised to a 
height of 130 feet. The carvings on all were marvel- 
ous in their beauty of design and execution, and some 
of them are still quite perfect. 

The great arched entrance to the Temple of Bacchus 
was a work of art, with its poppies and wheat, and its 
grapes and leaves. The Ggg and dart design was 
much used in all the cornice work, — the egg typifying 
life, and the dart, death. We went to the quarry 



Palestine 1 57 



where the stone was taken out and saw one stone 
which was cut and partly lifted out, which was larger 
than any in the wall. The great red granite columns 
used in the temples were from the quarries at Assuan, 
Egypt. 

I think I have not spoken of the poppies all over 
Palestine. There are millions of them, — all over the 
country wherever wild flowers could grow, and espe- 
cially in the wheat fields. Every wheat field is gor- 
geous with them, and we saw one near Bethlehem which 
was such a solid mass of red that the wheat was 
scarcely visible at all. So "poppies and wheat" is a 
favorite design for decoration, and is much used. 

I wish I had time to describe the railroad ride across 
the Mountains of Lebanon to this place, for it was 
great — part of the distance on each side of the range 
being a cog-wheel road, and the highest peaks all about 
us covered with snow. The winding down on the side 
toward the sea for two hours, in sight of many vil- 
lages, Beyrout, and the Mediterranean, was grand. And 
speaking of mountain trips, reminds me of one thing 
I forgot to mention in our last one, which is really 
interesting, and I must sandwich it in between this 
ride and Beyrout. About an hour out from Damas- 
cus, as we were winding up the canon of the Abana 
River, we had pointed out to us, on a very high point 
to our right, a bunch of old trees and a stone pillar, — 
one of the "groves and high places" of the worship 
of Baal, referred to so often in the Old Testament. 
This is the only one now known, they say. 



158 Glimpses of Many Lands 

Beyrout — sometimes spelled Beyrouth, and some- 
times Beirut — is an important seaport, but has not 
much else of special interest, except the American 
college. We visited it, and went through a good 
many of the buildings, of which there are twenty-one. 
The grounds contain forty-six acres situated on a 
commanding bluff in the new residence part of the 
city, on the seashore. They have over a thousand 
students enrolled this year, and are certainly doing a 
fine work. We attended one chapel service, — part 
of which was in English. President Bliss was very 
nice to us, and we had a visit with him in his own 
home. He also invited us to a reception at his house 
last evening, given in honor of Lord Bryce — who was 
British ambassador to the United States for six years — 
and who is now here. We had met him andh is wife in 
the past four days of our trip, and had sat next to them 
at table at the last two hotels; so we would have been 
delighted to attend their reception. But alas! our good 
clothes were taking a vacation in Italy, — our trunks 
having been sent from Cairo to Naples, — and we were 
traveling with only suit-cases for six weeks. Too 
bad! for he is said to be one of the most learned men 
of the present day. He lectures to the students this 
evening, and President Bliss urged us to come to that; 
but again, alas! our boat sails at 6 p. m. 

This city is rather more modern than most others 
we have seen, but is still very oriental — which is the 
polite way of saying it is dirty. 

I am glad w£ have been through Palestine — many 



Palestine 1 59 



times glad that we have had the opportunity to see 
it; but am also glad we are ready to leave it, having 
seen it. It has been cold every day we have been in 
the country, except in the Jordan valley and this city, 
— no fire in any hotel, and I have had to wear my 
jacket suit all the time in the house, and an extra 
coat when riding. 

To-day is bright and warm, and the sea looks very 
smooth, and the deepest blue that one can imagine. 
A fine prospect for our starting on another sea voyage. 
So good by, Palestine. 



XIV 

Constantinople and Athens 

On board the 

Austrian-Lloyd Steamship "Bruenn** 

Between Constantinople 

AND Athens, May 9, 1914. 

Here I am again at my old task. But it is an in- 
teresting task, — interesting to me, even if I should fail 
in making it interesting to anyone else, because I have 
a chance to quietly review events, and fix them in 
mind in something like order. 

So I am going to write up Constantinople to-day, 
and add to it my story of Athens when on the next 
boat — crossing to Italy — and that will complete my 
series of letters of the "far East and near East." 
After that our trip will be simply "abroad," and as 
that is so common nowadays, it will not be specially 
interesting. And besides, I will have very little time 
after that to write, as there will be no more boat trips, 
and we will not stay very long in one place. 

We left Beyrout as planned, and were four days and 
nights on the water. The first day out was fine, but 
all the rest of the time it was cold and blustery and the 
sea very choppy, — so cold we had to be wrapped in 
our heaviest clothes all the time, and even then could 
not stay on deck with comfort. However, we had 
much for which to be thankful, as we both kept very 

160 



Constantinople and Athens i6i 

well — and were hungry all the time. We are begin- 
ning to have great respect for ourselves as sailors, and 
do not dread the water trips at all now. But I pre- 
sume the Atlantic trip home will floor us, as everyone 
says that is the worst ever. However, that is one of 
the rivers we will not cross until we get to it. 

To-day is bright, just warm enough, and the sea as 
smooth as a mirror. 

The second day out from Beyrout we stopped at 
Larnaca, on the island of Cypress, but did not go 
ashore, as the boat did not dock, and stopped only a 
short time. This was Sunday, but there was no recog- 
nition of it on that boat. 

Later we passed the island of Rhodes, but did not 
stop. Saw the place where the great Colossus is sup- 
posed to have stood, but there is nothing to mark the 
spot now. Our route took us among islands most of 
the time, and sometimes not far from the mainland, 
and past all sorts of historical places, — among them 
the island of Patmos, in distant view to our left. 

At Smyrna we stopped for six hours; so we hired 
a carriage and guide for a drive of two hours, seeing 
the city pretty well. We had already had a fine 
general view of it from the boat, as the shore view for 
an hour before reaching Smyrna was beautiful, — 
a continuous panorama of green hills, rugged cliffs, 
cultivated fields, orchards, and cozy little villages. 
Smyrna is built up the hillsides, and makes a fine 
picture as we enter the harbor. So our drive was 
principally up and down hills. The ancient city was 



1 62 Glimpses of Many Lands 

not in evidence at all, except the site of the great 
amphitheater, or stadium, where Polycarp was burned 
at the stake, — one of the early Christian martyrs, — 
about 185 A. D., my authority says. Near by is a 
tomb which is said to be his, and is really thought 
to be correct. Besides these relics, the old Roman 
aqueduct remains, and still supplies the city with 
water. It is the chief commercial port of Asia Minor 
and quite a clean city. 

After Smyrna we passed the shore near which is 
Ephesus, but could not see it. We would like to have 
had time to visit it, for there are the ruins of the great 
Temple of Diana of which Paul spoke. 

Early in the morning of the fourth day we entered 
the Dardanelles, the ancient Hellespont, — the modern 
center of world interest. It is less than a mile wide 
at the narrowest part, and is strongly fortified on both 
shores, and also at points above and below the entrance. 
Saw the place where "Leander swam the Hellespont," 
and shortly before reaching the strait we had pointed 
out to us the site of the ancient city of Troy, — nothing 
but a site, however. 

One of the great obstacles in the way of the proper 
enjoyment of a lot of these things which we have seen 
in the past month, is that one has to exercise his faith 
and his imagination to such an extent that both 
naturally become a little weak. But the Dardanelles 
was genuine. That was a satisfaction, anyway. The 
strait is about thirty-seven miles long; the rest of the 
way we were in the little Sea of Marmora, — with land 



Constantinople and Athens 163 

in sight all the way, and many boats of many nations. 
About 5 p. M. we came in sight of Constantinople, one 
of the finest views of our lives. We later saw it from 
the top of the Galata Tower, and I know Constanti- 
nople now, in situation and outline, as well as any city 
we have ever seen. 

It is in three sections, — Stamboul and Galata on 
the Europe side, separated by the Golden Horn, and 
Scutari on the Asia side, separated from the other two 
by the Bosphorus, and the three forming a sort of 
crescent around the bay. And as all the parts rise 
from the waters on seven hills, it is no wonder it has 
won the admiration of all ages. It was founded in 
660 B. C. and was then called Byzantium. It has 
always been an important city, and coveted by several 
nations who would like to control the Black Sea and 
the Dardanelles. But as yet the "terrible Turk" 
holds the key. Stamboul is the original city, and is 
still the strictly oriental part, with its oldest mosques, 
its Turkish bazaars and merchants, and its narrow, 
crooked streets. The northern part of Galata is almost 
modern, and has good streets and buildings, and beau- 
tiful stores. This part is called Pera. The big modern 
hotel where tourists stop is called the Pera Palace. 
This part has been built up mostly by foreigners, and 
all the legation buildings are here. Some of the 
nations have very fine ones, — the finest being Germany's, 
and the poorest the United State's, and that only 
rented quarters. Kaiser Wilhelm II left his mark 
in a good many ways on his last visit, in numerous 



164 Glimpses of Many Lands 

tablets, memorials, etc., chief among them being a 
handsome fountain near the center of the old hippo- 
drome. I forgot to state in my last that we saw many 
evidences of him and his country in various places in 
Palestine, and heard it often stated that he had an 
eye on the "near East." 

We had a native guide for all the time we were in the 
city. Took three carriage drives, one trolley car and 
one underground railway ride, and one steamer trip, 
and think we saw it pretty well in a general outside 
view of things, though of course went into some build- 
ings more thoroughly. 

The steamer trip was up the Bosphorus to the 
Black Sea. By the way, I wonder if you know that 
Bosphorus means "ox ford," or "the ford of the cow," 
— from a Greek myth that lo swam in the shape of a 
cow from Asia to Europe, at a narrow point which is 
called the "ox ford." 

The steamer trip up the Bosphorus is as fine a water 
trip as could be found anywhere in the world, I am 
sure, — finer than our own famous Hudson River trip, 
I think. It is twenty miles, and is a continuous 
panorama of beautiful scenery on both sides, — rugged 
hills covered with trees, shrubbery, flowers, gardens, 
imperial palaces, fine residences, and, near the shore, 
many lovely little villages. 

At various points are great fortifications on both 
sides, — especially at the entrance to the Black Sea. 
At just seven miles out are the fort and castle on 
each side, where they used to have the huge chain 



Constantinople and Athens 165 

stretched across as a barrier. We saw the chain later, 
in the museum. Near this point, on the European 
side, is our American Robert College, a fine location, 
right on the hills overlooking the beautiful Bosphorus, 
its five or six buildings showing up well. We did not 
have time to stop at it. Passed the old palace where 
the ex-sultan, Abdul Hamid, and his family are im- 
prisoned. Also the palace and harem of the present 
sultan, who ought to be imprisoned too. 

Of its four hundred and eighty mosques, we visited 
the interior of only one, — the famous St. Sophia, — 
originally the greatest Christian church in the world, 
and the Mohammedans retained the name when they 
transformed it into a mosque. 

Here, opposite his palace, Constantine built a church 
in 326 A. D. which he dedicated to "Divine Wisdom" 
— the meaning of "Sophia." 

It was destroyed in a rebellion, and the present 
edifice was built by Justinian in 532 A. D. It has been 
pillaged and mutilated, and robbed of many of its 
valuable treasures by different sects and fanatics, 
but it still retains much of its original beauty. One 
part is said to have been modeled after the Temple of 
Solomon, and some of the great pillars are from it. 
They say that at a certain festival each year they used 
to have it proclaimed aloud, "Justinian builded greater 
than Solomon." It has been the scene of many his- 
torical and many terrible events. In one of its bal- 
conies was held that great meeting of "the church," in 
which the Greek church became an independent or- 



1 66 Glimpses of Many Lands 

ganizatlon. And in St. Sophia was the greatest mas- 
sacre of Christians ever recorded, besides several 
lesser ones. It is wonderfully beautiful in many ways 
in the interior, but the outside is a joke — painted in 
red and yellow stripes! 

The next largest mosque of the city is near by, built 
in 1608. It is much more beautiful on the outside 
than St. Sophia, and is the only one outside of Mecca 
having six minarets. It is called the mosque of Sultan 
Ahmed. 

On Friday we attended a great show. We went, 
along with most of the other strangers in the city and 
many natives, to see the sultan go to his mosque at 
the noon hour of prayer. He goes once a week only, 
and this is how it is done: All the sight-seers, and 
everybody else who wishes, go in carriages to a place 
near the mosque where there is a vacant piece of land 
which slopes up from the street (perhaps it was 
arranged that way purposely, — I don't know), and 
arrange themselves in order and wait. We were there 
in time to see the gathering together of hundreds of 
infantry, cavalry, artillery, gendarmes, police, firemen, 
a company from a military school, a band from the 
navy, the sultan's private band, and his magnificently 
arrayed imperial body-guard, — the others were all 
in gorgeous array also. When all were properly placed, 
and the hands of the big clock in the tower near by 
pointed to exactly twelve, a great shout announced his 
approach. So he rode through between the waiting 
lines of soldiers and people — a rather nice-looking old 



Constantinople and Athens 167 

man with almost white hair and beard — in an elegant 
carriage drawn by two magnificent, dark-gray Norman 
horses, while another just like them was ridden just 
ahead, and a beautiful white one was led on each side 
of the carriage. All this for one old man to go to 
prayers! and only about two blocks to go! And this 
program is repeated without change regularly every 
Friday. 

I might write much more if I had time, but it is 
almost dark, and we expect to reach Athens to-morrow 
morning. But before I close I want to speak of one 
peculiar thing about the Bosphorus of which I never 
heard before. They say there is a strong surface cur- 
rent toward the open sea, and a strong undercurrent 
toward the Black Sea. 

On board the 
Italian Line Steamship "Torino" 
Between Athens and Brindisi, 
May 14, 1914. 
I have been on deck until now — 11 a. m. — and if 
I get this letter finished to-day, I've got to get busy. 
So, beginning where I left off — on board the last boat 
— I continue. 

We reached Athens early in the morning of the next 
day, and went ashore early. It was not Athens either, 
but Pirseus, the port of Athens, which is five miles 
distant, so had that far to go in an electric train before 
we were in the city. And before I go any farther, I 
want to disabuse your minds of any impression you 



1 68 Glimpses of Many Lands 

may have that we were visiting in ancient Athens. 
It is not the city of Socrates, Pericles, Plato, and the 
rest of them, at all, but a modern, quite clean city 
of about the age of Chicago. Not even on the site of 
ancient Athens, though quite near by. Even ancient 
Greece is changed in form, for instead of the two pen- 
insulas of olden time, the southern one is now an island; 
as a few years ago the isthmus was cut across by a 
canal — only three quarters of a mile — and now steam- 
ers go through there instead of away round the south 
end, thus shortening the route very much from Athens 
to Italy. This steamer came through that way, but 
we were not on it then, as we left Athens by rail for 
a seven-hours' ride nearly straight west to Patras, at 
the west end of the Gulf of Corinth, and boarded the 
boat there at lo o'clock last night. To-day we are 
crossing the Adriatic Sea, and expect to reach Brindisi, 
Italy, at 8 o'clock this evening. Brindisi is on the 
southeast coast — the heel of the boot. We expect to 
stay there to-night, and go to Naples to-morrow by 
rail. This will end our boat trips until the Atlantic, 
unless we take a North Cape trip. 

But to return to Athens: As I said, we visited mod- 
ern Athens, but we put in most of our time in seeing 
the monuments which remain of ancient Athens: the 
Acropolis, where still stands the ruins of the beautiful 
Parthenon — the temple of Athena — built by Pericles 
about 430 B. C; the old Forum where Demosthenes 
made his famous orations — not much left of this but 
the site, however; and the ruins of many temples, 



Constantinople and Athens 169 

theaters, arches, tombs, statuary, etc. But I cannot 
describe them at length. Just get out your ancient 
histories and read them up. We climbed the weather- 
worn old steps to the top of the Areopagus, or Mars 
Hill, and stood on the spot where Paul stood when he 
preached his great Athens sermon beginning, "Ye 
men of Athens!" Went to the cave where it is said 
Socrates drank the hemlock, and to the site of Plato's 
school. Visited the great new stadium — which will 
seat 60,000 people — built on the site of the old one, and 
the old cemetery which has been unearthed in recent 
years, in which are most wonderful marble sculptures 
of many centuries before Christ, — one of the wife of 
Pericles, and one of the wife of Socrates, both very 
beautiful. There is also the monument to the soldiers 
who fell at the battle of Marathon, at the dedication 
of which Pericles made his famous funeral oration. 

One forenoon a party of six of us — one couple from 
Boston, and one from New York, and ourselves — went 
in an automobile to the plain of Marathon, — about 25 
miles north, — where the great battle of Marathon was 
fought on September 10, 490 B. C. In the center of 
the battlefield is a great mound which covered the 
bodies of the Athenians who were killed in the battle. 
We all went up on the top of the mound, and while we 
looked out over all the plain one of the party read 
Herodotus' account of the battle. 

The train ride through the country from Athens to 
Patras was interesting, as we saw that much more of 
Greece. Stopped a little while at Corinth, but did 



170 Glimpses of Many Lands 

not see anything special. This is a nice new boat, 
and we have had a lovely trip; and now have only a 
few hours more till on land in Italy; and then for 
more modern sights. Maybe I will write another 
letter some day — if I find things sufficiently interest- 
ing, — or different. 



XV 
Italy and Austria 

Milan, Italy, June 7, 1914. 

I am going to surprise you with another carbon-copy- 
letter, after saying that the one mailed at Naples, 
three weeks ago, was likely to be the last. But I 
haven't written any letters for so long that I begin to 
feel as if there was something lacking in my regular 
program. So, as it is raining, and we cannot go out this 
afternoon, I will get a letter written; but I promise in 
the beginning of it not to punish you to the extent 
of some of my letters; for I am not going to try to 
describe at length the cities of Europe, and the cathe- 
drals, paintings, and sculptures we have seen. 

In my last I told of our journeying up to the time of 
reaching Italy. We stayed in Brindisi that night, and 
the next day went by train to Naples, where we arrived 
at about 5 p. m. Went to Bertolini's, which is up on 
the hillside. Had a room with balcony, with a great 
view out over the world-renowned Bay of Naples. 
Stayed there four days, going to everything of inter- 
est, — the resurrected city of Pompeii, the crater of 
Vesuvius, etc. Our trip to the latter was by trolley 
car part of the way, then by cable incline to the summit, 
where we could look down into the crater. It was very 
quiet and well-behaved, the only demonstration being 
clouds of steam, and some sulphur. 

171 



172 Glimpses of Many Lands 

Naples was a disappointment to us. Perhaps we 
were there at the wrong season, or perhaps the weather 
did not favor us, but it was not what I expected. I 
had heard all my life of the blue skies, the clear trans- 
parent air, and the general ethereal loveliness of "Sunny 
Italy," and it was somewhat of a shock to find it cloudy 
almost all the time we were there, and rain two days, 
and so hazy part of the time that we could not see 
across the bay. 

Rome was better. It was clear and warm most of 
the time we were there, and we took a more cheerful 
view of things. It was all interesting, intensely so, 
and it is hard to especially mention any one or more 
things, when there is so much to speak of. So I'll 
just tell of some of the things we saw, and not try 
to make you see them — you'll have to read the books 
for that. We had a regular guide for three days, then 
went about alone, as we had learned how. Went to 
St. Peter's, St. Paul's, St. John's, St. Mary's, etc. 
There are over five hundred Catholic churches in 
Rome, and eighty of them are called St. Mary some- 
thing-or-other. We went to five or six of the most 
noted ones, saw masses and heard the organ in some, 
and saw the treasury in several, then passed on to 
things more interesting. Were at the Vatican also, 
in the parts to which the people are admitted, — that 
is, the museum, the picture gallery, and the Sistine 
chapel. Then there were the relics of the ancient 
things, — old things of the time of Christ, and before. 
The Forum, the Colosseum, the ruins of Nero's house, 



Italy and Austria 173 

the Appian Way, the remains of several old aqueducts, 
and many others. Spent a part of a forenoon down in 
the catacombs, — a wonderful experience. Went to 
the old Pantheon, which used to be a pagan temple 
of "all gods" but is now a sort of Westminster Abbey 
of Rome. Here we saw the tomb of Victor Emanuel; 
and the tomb and a bronze bust of Raphael. In the 
church of St. Peter in Vinculis we saw Angelo's famous 
statue "Moses," a most wonderful thing. 

Went to the Capitoline Museum, where we saw many 
wonders of painting and sculpture. Among the latter 
was the beautiful Capitoline Venus. Also saw there 
the wonderful mosaic, the Pliny doves, with five hun- 
dred pieces to the square inch. Also a few hundred 
other interesting things all over Rome. Among the 
more modern things I mention the magnificent new 
Victor Emanuel Monument, which they say cost 
$15,000,000. Another modern thing is the new 
Waldensian Church, built by Mrs. Kennedy of New 
York, and dedicated only last February. We were all 
through it, and it was a relief after the other style 
of churches. 

From Rome we went to Florence, a city as lovely as 
its name. The drives around Florence are beautiful, 
and the views from some of the hills superb. We had 
a fine guide for the city, and he made it especially in- 
teresting, driving to all places of greatest interest, 
which I cannot enumerate now, but will mention a 
few. One was the church of Santa Croce, where we 
saw the tomb of Galileo, the tomb of Michael Angelo, 



174 Glimpses of Many Lands 

and a monument of Dante. On Dante's monument 
is a figure of "Poetry, weeping," which is about the 
most beautifully appropriate thing I ever saw. "The 
Baptistry," down in the city, was built about 300 
B. C; as a pagan temple, but is now a church, with a 
font where everyone born in Florence is supposed to 
be baptized. It has many interesting features, but 
the special things to note are the two massive bronze 
doors which Michael Angelo said were "worthy to 
be the doors of Paradise." The great cathedral is 
too dark and gloomy for me. Down in the city, in 
a little square near the Neptune Fountain, is the spot 
where Savonarola was burned at the stake, in 1498, 
marked by a round bronze tablet in the pavement. 

But the chief interest of Florence centers in the 
picture galleries. We did our best to see two of them 
— thePitti Palace, and theUffizi, — but one needs plenty 
of time and much strength and walking ability to do 
justice to these. So we tried to get the best and 
skip the others, and I think we really accomplished a 
good deal. 

From Florence we went to Venice, and here I had 
another disappointment. For the far-famed Venice, 
with its fairy-like gondolas on the crystal water streets, 
was only a very ordinary city, built on piles out in 
the water, with no way of getting through its narrow 
canals, which are sometimes very disagreeable, except 
at the mercy of a man pushing a boat, and often very 
recklessly. To be sure, there is St. Mark's and the 
Bridge of Sighs, and the Doge's Palace, and the shops 



Italy and Austria 175 

full of beads — we saw all of them — also the pigeons. 
One night there was a great crowd gathered in the 
Piazza of St. Mark's, with a band, and much noise 
and cheering; and we waited with the crowd to see 
what it all meant. After a long time, and much call- 
ing and cheering, a door opened on a balcony and the 
king and queen of Italy stood to receive the homage of 
their people, and we were glad we happened to be 
there. 

From Venice we took a night train, northeast to 
Vienna, Austria, an all-night ride, reaching there early 
the next morning. We found it a fine, clean, modern 
city, — a real Chicago, with two and a half millions of 
people. It was quite a surprise, as we did not think 
it was so large nor so fine. We had a guide, as usual, 
and drove over it systematically, and saw all places 
and buildings of chief importance. Were out at 
Schonbrunn, and through the fine grounds; and though 
the aged emperor was at home, we did not happen to 
see him. Took a drive out along the "beautiful blue 
Danube," but it was not blue at all, — instead it was 
very muddy, as the water was high. The public build- 
ings and government buildings of Vienna are as fine as 
we have ever seen anywhere. Saw the great Univer- 
sity of Vienna, which has at the present time 11,000 
students, and over 500 teachers. In one of our drives 
we saw our old friend, the Ferris wheel, doing duty in 
an amusement park and turning merrily around as of 
yore. 

Took a day-train back from Vienna, and had a most 



176 Glimpses of Many Lands 

interesting trip. The first two hours was through a 
rugged country with grand mountain scenery. The 
rest of the way was through a farming and grazing 
country. Instead of going back to Venice we went to 
Trieste, which is near the head of the Adriatic Sea, 
nearly opposite Venice. 

Stayed at Trieste two days and enjoyed it, though there 
is nothing of special interest. It belongs to Austria, 
but is an Italian city. 

We crossed the Adriatic from Trieste to Venice and 
there took a train for Milan, which we reached in the 
evening, six days ago. 

Alex, Lyle, and Ena are here. They live in the home 
of the American consul while he is away on a three 
months' vacation. We had a nice home dinner with 
them last evening. Lyle is very familiar with every- 
thing in Milan, and we do not have to get any other 
guide while here. 

One forenoon we all climbed to the top of the great 
cathedral and looked down on the ninety-eight small 
spires and the two thousand statues on the roof and in 
the niches. It is the most beautiful thing we have seen 
in Italy so far. It is built entirely of white marble, 
and is very beautiful inside also. Yesterday we saw 
Leonardo di Vinci's "Last Supper," and Raphael's 
"Marriage of Joseph and Mary" — the two great 
masterpieces in Milan. 

We like Italy. The cities are quite clean and the 
country is beautiful. It is just the season for things to 
be fresh and green, and the whole country is farmed 



Italy and Austria 177 

beautifully. In the southern part the grapes are the 
principal crops, and the vineyards are lovely, though 
there are some other fruits too, — quantities of olives, 
and some wheat. In the northern part there are 
thousands of acres of mulberry trees for the silk indus- 
try. We have been the whole length of the country 
from the "boot heel" to this place, and across the 
northern end from Venice here; and it all looks pros- 
perous, and we unhesitatingly pronounce it lovely. 
We leave here to-morrow for a week in Switzerland, 
then to Paris. 



XVI 

Central Europe 

Christiania, Norway, June 30, 1914. 

There is not a great deal to see in this city and as I 
cannot keep on the continuous move for the twenty-four 
hours of daylight and twilight that we are now enjoy- 
ing, I will sit still a while and spend a little of it in 
gathering up the threads and weaving the checkered 
pattern of my story up to the present. 

My last was mailed in Milan, between three and four 
weeks ago, and I cannot attempt to write a full account 
of all our wanderings during that time, so will try to 
review only the most striking points, — as it was all over 
the beaten track of which we so often hear and read. 

From Milan we went north for a week's trip through 
the most noted parts of Switzerland, seeing the best 
part of the scenery of the Alps. We traveled by day 
and stopped only one night at each place, — Lucerne, 
Interlaken, Montreux, Chamonix, Geneva, and Lau- 
sanne, seeing the famous Jungfrau, Mont Blanc, etc. 
It is a fine way to learn geography. Now, I had always 
supposed that Mont Blanc was the chief thing in 
Switzerland — and found out we had to go to France 
to see it. To be sure, it is one of the range which makes 
the boundary, but it is seen and visited from Chamonix, 
France. 

It was very cold all the time we were in Switzerland. 
178 



Central Europe 179 



We wore our overcoats all the time, except when we 
were in bed, — did not need them there, as we slept 
under feather-beds at most of the places. The hotels 
are beautiful and elegantly furnished, but not properly- 
heated, and we often were blue with cold even in the 
dining-rooms. The trip between these places was 
only a few hours each, so we always had a part of each 
day to see the town; but there is not much to see at 
any of them but the lakes, the mountains, and the hotels. 

The day we were between Como and Lucerne, it 
began snowing a little just before we entered the St. 
Gothard tunnel, which took fifteen minutes to go 
through, and when we came out on the other side of 
the mountains, there was nearly a foot deep of new- 
fallen snow, and still coming down in immense flakes. 
It was quite a sight for the 9th of June. The scenery 
was grand every day, and each mountain ride seemed 
finer than the previous one. I am going to copy one 
day's account from my notebook, just as I wrote it 
that night at Chamonix. 

"No one can describe the trip from Montreux to 
Chamonix to in any sense do it justice. Around the 
end of Lake Leman, past the old Castle of Chillon, 
keeping pretty near the lake and not much climbing 
for the first hour or more, to Martigny. This was by 
steam car train, through fine meadows, and orchards of 
apple and cherry. 

At Martigny we changed to an electric third-rail 
train, which began to climb, — with a cogwheel help, — 
climbed and turned, and wound and doubled, through 



i8o Glimpses of Many Lands 

tunnels close along precipices with rugged crags and 
rocks, with snow-covered peaks above us, and most 
majestic scenery of mountain, stream, and waterfall 
every moment. It is a most wonderful railroad — a 
marvel of engineering! Near the summit we came to 
a somewhat level pass where we changed to a different 
road and train at Valorcine and continued climbing for 
a while, still along a stream, and soon saw our first 
glacier of the Alps. After a little while we ran close to 
another — so close we could see the blue in the crevasses. 
Then many more prongs from the great glacier of 
Mont Blanc. 

Soon we were at Chamonix, with Mont Blanc in full 
view, and one glacier extending within three miles of 
the hotel. We were at the Hotel Mont Blanc, with win- 
dows looking out on to the great snow-covered moun- 
tains and glaciers all about us, and it is about as cold 
as it looks. We have to wear our coats in the house, 
and even then shiver. 

After lunch we walked about the town, but there is 
nothing to see but the mountains and glaciers." 

This description will answer for almost every day we 
traveled in Switzerland. 

After Switzerland, Paris. This is a large subject — 
too large for me to handle. We stayed there a week and 
went to all the places and saw the things that Americans 
usually do on their first visit, I presume. Alex was with 
us through Switzerland and Paris, and together we 
saw the places of historical interest: the beautiful 
Champs Elysees, the Place de Concorde, the Eiffel 



Central Europe i8i 



Tower, the tomb of Napoleon, the Pantheon, the Church 
of Notre Dame, the Garden of Tuilleries, the Louvre, 
and a hundred other things equally interesting. One 
could put in the whole week in the Louvre if he wanted 
to see it all, — and had the strength, — but though we 
saw many lovely things in both painting and marble, 
I shall mention only one of the chief of each. We saw 
the much talked of "Mona Lisa," which was stolen and 
recovered again, and the world-renowned Venus di Milo. 

Spent one day in a trip by automobile through the 
beautiful Bois de Bologne, the Champs Elysees, the 
Bologne Park, and a lovely country road to Versailles; 
and then spent several hours in the wonderful Palace of 
Versailles, with its great rooms still furnished as in the 
days of Louis XIV and Napoleon; and the wonderful 
paintings of the history of those times still perfect. 
The grounds and fountains are beautiful. On the 
return trip we stopped at several places, among them 
the Sevres china factory. 

We left Paris in the early morning, and had a whole 
day's ride north through Alsace and Lorraine, to 
Mayence, or Mainz, as it is often called. This journey 
took us through a fine farming region, — we said the 
nearest like Illinois of any place we had seen. Passed 
through Metz, a large, prosperous-looking city, and 
many great factory towns. Reached Mayence in time 
to look about the city, and mention only one thing — the 
fine monument to Gutenberg, the inventor of printing. 
The next morning we boarded the steamer for the trip 
down the Rhine to Cologne. Again it was so cold that 



1 82 Glimpses of Many Lands 

we could not enjoy being out on deck, but had to be 
if we wanted to see anything. 

This is another trip which is often described and as 
often exaggerated. With the exception of about two 
hours, it is a very ordinary river trip. For about two 
hours the river is very winding, with high rocky bluffs 
and many old castles and ruins on both sides, and many 
places we all know from legends, as the Mouse Tower 
and the Lorelei Rocks. Reached Cologne that eve- 
ning and stayed there all the next day. Got a guide and 
drove all over the city, and to all places of note, and 
found it a very clean, lovely city. Its chief pride is its 
famous cathedral, but it is not nearly so beautiful as 
the one at Milan. 

The next morning we started for another whole-day 
ride to Hamburg, through Bremen. The first part 
of the way was through the Rhine valley, a very pros- 
perous looking country. We passed through Essen, 
the seat of the great Krupp gun works, and many other 
great manufacturing cities with perfect forests of 
chimneys. This was the heart of the great iron and 
foundry industries of Germany. 

Reached Hamburg that night and stayed there three 
days. We liked it very much and think it the very 
loveliest city we have seen — so many beautiful parks 
and broad streets with splendid shade trees, and hand- 
some homes with large beautiful grounds — and such a 
glorious profusion of flowers, especially roses. 

Our next journey was north, by train, to Copen- 
hagen, Denmark, — that is, the first three or four hours 



Central Europe 183 



were by train, through a fine farming and grazing coun- 
try, to Kiel, the entrance to the Kiel Canal, and the 
Germans' great naval base. In the harbor here we 
counted fifty-two battleships, twenty-seven German 
and twenty-five English. They were having some kind 
of a review, and the Kaiser was there, but we did not 
see him. 

Here we changed from the train to a tiny steamer, 
to cross what we supposed was a narrow channel, 
to take another train on the other side. And here 
a startling surprise awaited us. Instead of crossing 
a channel, we found we had a trip of five and a half 
hours, a good deal of the time out of sight of land, 
and on that little toy boat! 

There was a stiff breeze and the sea was rough, and 
the little steamer danced about lively, so that the 
"mal de mer" got its inning with a good many of the 
passengers. But we both kept all right and enjoyed 
a really good dinner on the little boat. After landing, 
we boarded another train and had an interesting ride 
of two hours in Denmark, through a nice farming 
country dotted with good houses, and looking quite 
like home. 

We found Copenhagen to be a pleasant city — not so 
large and rich and beautiful as Hamburg, but clean 
and prosperous-looking, with many interesting things 
to see — and lots of time in which to see them, for we 
were getting pretty far toward the land of all daylight, 
and no one seemed to know when to go to bed. The 
sun did not set until past nine o'clock, and the twilight 



184 Glimpses of Many Lands 

lasted all night. Copenhagen has many old castles 
and palaces, and in the Rozenborg Castle is a wonderful 
collection of valuable things from the reigns of dif- 
ferent kings: the jewels, plate, dress, uniforms, furni- 
ture, pictures, and other valuable souvenirs of many- 
centuries. Then the Thorvaldsen Museum contains 
many fine marble sculptures, given to the city by their 
own famous sculptor, Thorvaldsen, who is their pride. 
We drove all over the city, and enjoyed it very much. 
On Sunday we attended church service at "The 
Church of Our Lady," a Lutheran church, but retaining 
the name of the old church built in the 12th century, 
before Luther and the reformation. The organ and 
singing were fine, and the preaching seemed very earnest 
and eloquent, though all in a tongue unknown to us. 
One thing about the building was worthy of mention. 
There were life-size statues of Christ and the twelve 
apostles at intervals around the walls — white marble, 
done by Thorvaldsen in the last century. 

From Copenhagen we came here, which has nothing 
of special interest, except that this year it is the Mecca 
of all Norwegians, as they are having their exposition 
to celebrate the centennial of their independence from 
Denmark. We have met many Norwegian-Americans 
in our different journeys and drives about the city. 
On our way here from Denmark, we crossed the sound 
or channel which separates Denmark from Sweden. 
The train was run onto a ferry, and ferried across. At 
this point, on the Denmark side, is Elsinore, and the 
Kronborg Castle, made famous as being the place 



Central Europe 185 



where the ghost of Hamlet's father is supposed to have 
walked. After starting again, on the Sweden side, 
we traveled for several hours near the west cost, 
through a fine farming country with good houses and 
barns, and well cultivated fields and gardens. Saw 
many women at work in the fields. Arrived in Chris- 
tiania at 9:45 p.m., and the sun shining brightly. 
When it did set, the pink remained all night, and it was 
almost daylight all night. 

To-morrow we leave here for Bergen, on the coast, a 
whole day's ride across the Scandinavian Mountains. 



XVII 

The Land of the Midnight Sun 

On board the 

Steamship "Vega." 

Off the Coast of Norway, July 13th. 

You will begin to think pretty soon that I am not 
keeping my word about not writing any more family 
letters, but this trip to the North Cape has been so 
different, so out of the ordinary in the usual European 
travel, that I think you will enjoy it as much as a 
letter from the Orient. 

But I will begin at the beginning: We left Chris- 
tiania the morning of July ist for an all-day ride to 
Bergen, nearly west, — a little north, — on the coast. 
This took us over the Scandinavian Mountains — but 
Norway is nearly all mountains, except little patches 
along the coast. It may surprise you to see it stated 
that Norway has only two and a quarter millions of 
people — less in the entire country than in Chicago. 
It was a surprise to us, but the authorities say that is 
correct. 

This mountain trip was fine — from sea level, up 
through the splendid lumber forests, to the barren 
rocks and perpetual snows. At the pass of the sum- 
mit, we stopped at a frozen lake where only the week 
before there had been a ski contest on the ice — in 
July! It was a long, crowded train, and four hundred 

186 



The Land of the Midnight Sun 187 

or more people got out, played snow battle, drank ice 
water which flowed in streams, and enjoyed the cool- 
ness, — for it had been a very hot day — and still was hot 
up there, in the sun, and the snow melting in rivers. 
They said the snow was from twenty to sixty feet deep 
in places. Then the descent on the other side of the 
mountains was fascinating, — from the miles and miles 
of snow sheds, piled deep with snow of fifty or more 
feet, the snows gradually growing less, the bare rocks 
beginning to show, then the mosses, then the grass and 
wild flowers, the shrubs, the birch trees, then the pines 
— and by and by the hills were all green, with here and 
there a spot of snow on top. Following down the 
canon of the rushing river formed by the melting 
snows, the transition from winter to summer was won- 
derful. It is a miracle of railroad building, — winding, 
tacking, looping, doubling, climbing, and going through 
two hundred tunnels in one day! The whole day was 
a continuous delight, and did not grow tiresome for a 
minute in the almost fourteen-hours' trip. 

We reached Bergen at 9:45 p. m., went to the Hotel 
"Norge," which means Norway, had supper, took a 
long walk, and came in about half-past 11 o'clock, — 
still broad daylight. The only thing of special note, 
which we saw when walking, was a monument to Ole 
Bull, the violinist, who was a Norwegian, and a native 
of Bergen. 

The next morning we boarded a small steamer for 
the first installment of our North Cape trip. This was 
planned out as five days inland, zigzagging among the 



1 88 Glimpses of Many Lands 

fjords, and getting north to Trondhjem, and from there 
a seven-days' cruise on this boat. The first part of it 
was accomplished by means of five small steamers, 
one carriage, one two-wheeled cart, and two automo- 
biles! Easy? Oh, no! But we had comfortable beds 
in rather primitive hotels three of the five nights, 
which helped. The other two were on board the little 
steamers on the fjords, — and we went across-country 
from one to another. This took us through some of 
the grandest scenery of Norway. We think it far 
grander than anything we saw in Switzerland, — dif- 
ferent however, so different one cannot make a just 
comparison. For Switzerland has so much greener 
scenery, and so much more pastoral country, that it 
cannot be compared with the more northern country 
whose mountains need not be nearly so high above sea 
level, and yet be perpetually snow-covered and glacier- 
bound. On this trip we saw many spurs of the largest 
glacier of Europe, covering 350 square miles. It is 
called the Jostedalsbra — but please don't ask me to 
pronounce it. 

I mention this in particular, as the view was in- 
delibly impressed upon my vision in several different 
ways. First, we approached it on a little steamer on 
the loveliest crystal-green mountain lake. Next, we 
were atHjelle. Third, at the Hjelle Hotel we had the 
very finest home dinner we had enjoyed in many 
moons. And lastly, it was the hottest day we had 
experienced since we were in the Jordan valley — and 
this among the glaciers. From Hjelle we had to go 



The Land of the Midnight Sun 189 

over a mountain range where the snow was not gone 
from the summits enough to allow the automobiles to 
make the trip. They have good roads, and regular 
automobile routes from one fjord to another, across 
the mountains. But this was early in the season, and, 
though a force of men were at work shoveling snow, 
they had not finished clearing the pass of this summit. 
In some places the snow stood twenty to thirty feet 
high on each side of the shoveled-out roadway. This 
is where we went in a two-wheeled cart, — drawn by a 
dun-colored pony. I digress just long enough to re- 
mark that all the horses of that region are small, so 
that we called them ponies; and nearly all — in fact 
every one we saw— are dun-colored, just as the birds 
and wild animals of the North are either white or light- 
colored. Our little dun horse was a beauty, and very 
sure-footed, and that eight-hour ride in the two-wheeled 
cart was a wonderful experience. Along gorges and 
precipices and mountain torrents, and lovely water- 
falls, with snow-covered peaks all about us, and the 
valleys between them filled with the blue ice extending 
down from the great glacier. It was grand; sublime! 
The weather was unusually warm, and the snow was 
melting fast, so there were great volumes of water 
coming down all the gorges. 

I find this entry in my notebook, at this point: 
"After three hours of this glorious mountain ride, we 
stopped at a rest house — the Videstaeter Hotel — for 
dinner, and gormandized, — coffee with cream!" 

As we neared the summit there were many places 



IQO Glimpses of Many Lands 

where the snow was so deep and soft in the road, that 
the little dun horse could not pull us through, so we 
would get out and walk, and the driver would help 
push the cart through. This occurred just twelve 
tincies on that one trip. The ride down the other side 
of the range was less exciting, and we reached Grotlied 
about 5 p. M., where we changed to an automobile for 
another hour and a half ride, which took us over an- 
other mountain range to Merok. And here I resign 
my position as a reporter! I'd like to describe that 
ride, but I can't, — no use trying. John Gilpin's 
famous ride, or Tam O'Shanter's jolly spin, were 
nothing in comparison. No words of mine could 
make anyone appreciate that ride. It was the most 
thrilling thing of our lives up to this moment. 

I think I once wrote you of our trip up the mountain 
to Miyanoshita, Japan, and called it "thrilling." For- 
get it! That was but a baby carriage outing in a park 
on a fine June morning, as compared with this. 

I said I could not describe it, and will not try, but 
will simply tell what it was. From Grotlied to Merok 
there is a good made road over the range, from sea 
level on one side, to the fjord where we took the steamer 
on the other. Here the road was cleared, and the 
automobiles were making the regular trips. We were 
the only passengers in a seven-passenger car, and the 
chauffeur could not speak any English, so we could 
not direct him, or caution him, or beg him to go slower. 
All we could do was to pull his sleeve and make faces 
at him, which he did not seem to mind at all, — but 



The Land of the Midnight Sun 191 

just flew on as if we were on a level boulevard, while 
all the time there were bends, and loops, and hairpin 
curves, up to the summit where we were among the 
glaciers and everlasting snows. But the descent of 
the other side was much worse, — the winding terrace 
below terrace, the short turns, the loops, the hair- 
raising, nerve-racking whirl of the ride, and with it all 
the grandeur of the scenery! The crags and peaks 
and glaciers and snow — and on all sides the waterfalls, 
great and small, rushing down the mountain gorges. 
It surely was a ride never to be forgotten. And this 
was our Fourth of July celebration! 

We reached the Union Hotel at Merok in time for 
dinner, and met a good many Americans there, and 
had little flags on our tables. I had my largest silk 
flag on the end of our table, and the landlady pinned 
it on with an American beauty rose. 

Merok is a most charming spot, — beautiful beyond 
words, — ^just a little resort village set down on the 
water's edge, and climbing up the lower slopes of the 
mountains; and at this season of the year as full of 
beautiful flowers as southern California in early spring. 
The mountains are high above it on all sides except the 
side of the blue water, and the rushing streams and 
roaring waterfalls add a touch of the majestic to the 
beautiful. We would have enjoyed a longer stay 
there, but our itinerary required us to take steamer 
there the next day. This was one of the most beautiful 
water trips we had taken — the scenery along the 
fjord — it was like a broad river — was surpassingly 



192 Glimpses of Many Lands 

grand. Reached Soholt about the middle of the after- 
noon, then another automobile ride took us to Vest- 
naes, where we stayed that night. This auto ride was 
not so wild as the other, but we flew up, and down, and 
around curves in a fearfully reckless manner, — part of 
the time at more than thirty miles an hour. 

We left Vestnaes the next morning in a tiny steamer 
for only an hour's ride to quite a large city and port 
called Molde, where we were to take a larger boat. 
While we were waiting at the landing for our little 
steamer, we saw a rowboat come across from a small 
island, with five cows on board, which walked out of 
the boat on to the land and began grazing as if used to 
the performance. 

We stayed in Molde all that day, and in the evening 
went aboard a large, comfortable steamer for the last 
relay of that part of the trip. I find this note in my 
day's record, on board the "Neptune," which started 
out from Molde at 7:30 p. m. Dated 11 p. m. I find: 
"Have just watched the sun disappear into the sea, a 
veritable ball of fire, at 10:26 p. m., and the afterglow 
following was the most glorious sunset sight I ever 
witnessed, — like the heavens on fire." 

The next morning at nine o'clock we were in Trond- 
hjem, the largest city of the northern part of Norway, 
and an important seaport. I have given a rather 
lengthy account of these first five days of this wonder- 
ful Norway coast trip, because so few people take it; 
though they tell us it is fast growing in favor, and more 
people take it every year. Most of those who take the 



The Land of the Midnight Sun 193 

North Cape trip go by steamer direct from Bergen or 
Christiania, and some take the steamer at Hamburg 
for the entire trip. 

On the evening of that day, July 7th, we went aboard 
this steamer for our seven-days' cruise to North Cape 
and return to Trondhjem. Most of the time we were 
in the regular channel, shut in by many islands, but 
sometimes in the open sea. Then in and out of fjords 
whenever there was some especially fine scenery farther 
inland. The second day out we crossed the Arctic 
Circle, and since then we have been really in "the land 
of the midnight sun," — sunlight twenty-four hours in 
the day — unless it was foggy, which it sometimes was. 

At the Arctic circle the boat stopped, everybody 
came on deck, and four guns were fired — the usual 
ceremony. At night we were all summoned on deck 
at ten o'clock, and Neptune, in costume and with some 
of his court, formally presented each one of us with a 
certificate showing we had crossed the Arctic Circle. 

Another event of that day was the going on shore at 
the great glacier Svartisen, one spur of which comes 
clear down to the water's edge. This is the second 
largest glacier in Europe. We anchored out a way in 
the sea, and all went ashore in the boats. The ice 
was at least a hundred feet high at the water, with 
great blue chasms and cracks, and pieces breaking off 
and falling into the water. This is the way the floating 
icebergs are formed. 

We try to have all sorts of things to keep us busy, as 
the days are awfully long when the sun never sets. Of 



194 Glimpses of Many Lands 

course we had to go to bed sometimes, but that was a 
matter of secondary importance, — the first was to 
always be up to see the midnight sun, if it was visible. 
At this season it is always visible north of the Arctic 
Circle, if it is not cloudy. In my diary of the day we 
crossed the circle I find this entry, dated a half-hour 
after midnight: "Have been on deck watching the sun 
for the past hour, as it hung like a ball of fire above 
the horizon. It is still there, and will not set for us 
for four days yet. We saw it at exactly midnight. The 
boat stopped, then fired four guns — the midnight salute 
when the sun is visible; when it is cloudy the salute is 
omitted. It is exactly north when it is at the lowest 
point, only a little above the horizon, then it gradually 
rises toward the east. It seems very wonderful." After 
this, the midnight lunch is served, and then we are at 
liberty to go to bed, — which we usually do, as we try 
to be up and ready for breakfast at eight o'clock, for we 
want to be on deck to see things. We even grudge the 
time we have to sleep — but a little of it seems necessary. 
We kept saying all the time during the first part of 
the trip, — even as far as Trondhjem, — that the farther 
north we went the hotter it got; but we changed our 
minds the day after we crossed the Arctic Circle, for it 
was decidedly cold, and we had to put on winter clothes. 
It began to be foggy too, and that made it so damp it 
seemed colder. The afternoon of the day we were to 
reach North Cape was very foggy, and it kept getting 
thicker, until for a couple of hours we could not see 
anything, and the foghorn kept up an almost con- 



The Land of the Midnight Sun 195 

tinuous tooting. About 6 p. m. we stopped, and re- 
mained for about two hours, just drifting slightly. 
Then the captain sent out the motor boat with two 
men, to reconnoiter. They came back after a while, 
and we started slowly, with the motor boat for a guide. 
Pretty soon the fog lifted, and very near us loomed up 
the great rock cliffs of the North Cape. The "Vega" 
steamed into a fine little cove, and anchored a short 
distance from shore. Soon after nine o'clock we all 
went ashore, and began the climb up to the top of the 
cape. It is a perpendicular bare rock on two sides, 
but on the side where we anchored it was a little slop- 
ing, and the first half of the way there were grass and 
wild flowers, and a zigzag, rocky trail led to the top. 
The summit is 1000 feet above the sea, but the path 
we went up is many times that far, and it took us 
about an hour and a half to go up. Easy.^ Again, 
many times, oh, no! But we did it, and at midnight 
stood on the top of North Cape, in latitude 71° 10' N., 
and looked out over the Arctic Ocean. It was partly 
cloudy, and we saw the sun only through cracks and 
openings in the clouds. It was like a beautiful red 
sunset. They say it is seldom much better. The 
next thing was to climb down, and it was almost as 
hard as to go up, but did not take so long. We were 
on board again at 1 130 a.m., where we had a good lunch 
and hot coffee. We did not get to bed till nearly three 
o'clock, so we did not get up till lunch time next day, — 
the first time we have failed to go to a meal, — and I 
was so lame I could hardly walk for two days. 



196 Glimpses of Many Lands 

I forgot to mention that on the morning of that day 
we had stopped at Hammerfest, the most northern city 
in the world. It has a population of about 3,000. 
It is built along the coast, — only one street of buildings 
wide, and about two miles long, extending around the 
curve of the bay, with the mountains close back of it. 
Whale-catching, and whale-oil manufacturing are the 
chief industries of the people. 

The next day, on the return trip, we went into the 
Lyngen Fjord, and stopped at Lyngen. We went 
ashore, and about a mile up a valley to a camp of 
twelve families of Laplanders. They are real natives 
of Lapland, who come over to the west coast every 
summer to fish. They take a summer trip, you see, 
just like the prevailing fashion of our people. While 
we were there, the men drove into the corral a herd of 
over two hundred reindeer. They own over fifteen 
hundred of them, running partly wild among the 
mountains. They live in sod huts and skin tents of 
the most primitive fashion. 

Another interesting experience was seeing the 
bird rock, — a great cliff like North Cape in appear- 
ance, — every nook and crevice of it full of sea fowl, — 
gulls, ducks, and auks. The boat got as near to it as 
possible, then fired the four small cannon, and the birds 
flew in clouds, — literally millions of them, — screaming 
wildly; but they soon returned. I guess they are get- 
ting used to the performance. Last night was our last 
view of the midnight sun, and it was a fine one. We 
have seen it three nights of the five that we were north 



The Land of the Midnight Sun 197 

of the Circle, which they say is a fine record. This 
morning we crossed the Circle again, and so have left 
the "land of the midnight sun," but are still in the 
land of continuous daylight, — for the season. 

We expect to reach Trondhjem to-morrow morning, 
and take a train at once for a twenty-four-hour rail- 
road trip to Stockholm, Sweden. But it has been so 
foggy this afternoon that we are running slowly, and 
unless the fog lifts we may not get in, to make connec- 
tion with our train. 

I forgot to tell you in my last that when we were in 
Hamburg we booked for home, to sail from Southamp- 
ton, on August the 23d, on the Hamburg-American liner 
"America." So expect to reach home some time in the 
first part of September. 

July 14th, Afternoon. 

Well, here we are, still on the "Vega," with the fog- 
horn tooting, instead of whirling away across Sweden, 
toward Stockholm. The fog of yesterday continued, 
and grew worse, and about 9 p. m. the boat stopped, and 
stayed where she was, all night. This morning it was 
not quite so dense, and lifted a little once in a while. 
So about 8 A. M., with the motor boat as a pilot, we 
started, going by little jogs till about noon, when the 
sun came out and everything was lovely; and now we 
are running at full speed. 

Later. At Trondhjem. 

Arrived here at 5 p. m., ten and a half hours late, so 
will have to stay here till to-morrow morning. Will 
not mail this till we reach Stockholm. 



XVIII 
Sweden and Russia 

Hotel Bristol, Unter den Linden. 
Berlin, Germany, July 26, 1914. 

There is no church we can go to to-day with any 
satisfaction, being all in an unknown tongue. There 
may be some, but if so we do not know where to find 
them. So I am going to spend most of my time in- 
doors, and will continue my story of journeying. 

You know I like to write of things which are "dif- 
ferent," and our last two weeks have been different 
enough to suit even me. Russia is so out of the route 
of the usual tourist travel, and the usual write-ups, 
that it is worth while to stop and take some note of it. 

My last letter was mailed at Stockholm, but before 
we had seen any of it; so I will begin there, for it also 
is "different," — that is, it is different from any idea 
that most of us at home have of it. I don't think most 
of us have ever thought of it at all, — much less have 
thought of it as a place of real beauty, worthy to be 
written up as one of the beautiful cities of Europe. It 
is called the "Venice of Sweden," but it is so infinitely 
more lovely than the original Venice that there is no 
comparison. It is built on many small islands, with 
streams of fresh water — not canals — between them. 
The main business part is on one larger island, and is 
a really fine modern city, — many beautiful buildings, 

198 



Sweden and Russia 199 

and broad, clean streets. It has a population of about 
350,000. Most of the fine residences are on the many- 
small islands, and there are many handsome apartment 
buildings on the larger island. A great many people 
have their own boats, — small steamers, motor boats, 
and rowboats, — and besides these there are small 
steamers running in every direction, just as street cars 
do in other cities. But there are trolley cars, too, on 
the main island. 

Then the trip out toward the Baltic, by steamer, was 
beautiful. For four or five hours it was just winding 
around among islands with lovely homes, — the sum- 
mer homes of Stockholm people. It was all such a 
surprise, to find so much beauty in Sweden. The 
steamer trip was fourteen hours to Abo, on the coast 
of Finland. There we connected with a train for an 
eleven-hours' run to St. Petersburg, through an un- 
interesting country; but we found a most interesting 
city at the end of the trip. 

St. Petersburg is not an ancient city, having been 
founded only a little over two hundred years ago — 
in 1703 — by Peter the Great, after he took that part 
of Finland from Sweden. Peter is much in evidence 
everywhere, in statues, palaces, fountains, etc., and 
he laid out the city on a grand scale. It has been kept 
up in the same style by his successors, and is a very 
beautiful, modern, sumptuously rich city. I cannot 
speak of all its wonderful buildings, but will mention 
a few. The first we went to was the great St. Isaac's 
Cathedral. It was Sunday morning, and we went in 



2CX) Glimpses of Many Lands 

time for morning mass, to hear the singing. The 
Greek church does not have instrumental music, and 
this was just a large choir of men and boys, and it 
surely was fine. The cathedral is magnificent in its 
richness and decoration, but is too elaborate and showy 
to be artistic or beautiful. I do not care for it, not- 
withstanding the glory of its ten beautiful malachite 
and two exquisite lapis lazuli columns near the altar, 
and other rich and unusual decorations. 

In the afternoon we went to a monastery church to 
hear the monks sing. This also was fine, — as fine voices, 
and as exquisitely rendered music, as we ever heard. 
From there we went to the Church of Peter and Paul 
where the emperors since Peter the Great are al 
buried. This being Sunday, and there being no other 
church we could attend, we put in the time at the Greek 
churches. 

I should have stated that the first thing we did after 
breakfast was to hire a good guide for the three days 
we were to be there. One cannot possibly get along 
there without a guide. So we did all the churches that 
day. 

The next thing of interest is the palaces. We were 
through many rooms of two of the royal palaces which 
I will speak of, — I will not say describe, for that would 
be impossible. 

We have seen many palaces in other places, and much 
of royal luxury and display, but all seem as nothing 
when compared with the lavish prodigality shown 
everywhere in these palaces: millions on millions of 



Sweden and Russia 201 

dollars worth of gold and silver and precious stones, of 
marble, and pictures, and rich tapestries, and beautiful 
wood, and inlaid work, and luxurious furniture. The 
Winter Palace, as it is called, contains one thousand 
rooms — we were not through them all, — we were not 
ready to die in Russia. It is all kept immaculate by 
an army of attendants, with guards in every room, and 
visitors are admitted — with guides and passports — 
when the Czar is not there, — and he usually is not, as 
this is only one of fifty royal palaces, and there are 
some he likes better. Just now he and his family 
are staying in a "little palace" on the Baltic seashore, — 
has only fifty rooms, — near the great Summer Palace of 
Peterhof. We were not allowed to go through either 
of those, but drove through the grounds, and walked 
among the many beautiful fountains. You probably 
have read in the home papers recently that President 
Poincaire, of France, was making a friendly visit to 
the Czar of Russia. It was also noted that the friendly 
visit included some of the most influential of the 
French ministry. 

Well, the day we were at Peterhof was the day he 
arrived. The Czar and his imperial Cossack guards 
had been to meet him, and we saw them all arrive at 
the palace grounds. We were very close to the en- 
trance, and had a splendid view of the whole company 
as they came in. The Czar and President Poincaire 
rode in a carriage together, with half of the Cossack 
guard before and half following the carriage, and all 
preceded by a band playing the "Marsailles," and with 



202 Glimpses of Many Lands 

soldiers lined up on both sides. Then behind the 
Cossacks, came an automobile in which were the Czar- 
ina and three of her beautiful daughters. We saw 
them all drive into the grounds, alight, and go into the 
great palace, where they had the "gala dinner" of 
which we read in a London paper a few days later. 
We thought we were very fortunate to have come to 
Peterhof that particular day. 

The fountains of the Peterhof grounds are the most 
elaborate and beautiful of anything we have ever seen 
or could imagine. They were planned and constructed 
under the supervision of Catherine the Great, the next- 
greatest ruler Russia ever had, who reigned from 1760 
to 1798. They say that she went to see the famous 
fountains at Versailles, France, and came back saying, 
"I'll show Louis XIV something." And she did; 
for these are infinitely more beautiful than his, and 
cost millions. Everywhere is evidenced Catherine's 
lavishness in spending money. When she wanted 
anything, she had it, — and the finest and richest of 
its kind that could be obtained. She built and fur- 
nished the palace at Sarski Selo, an hour's ride by train 
from St. Petersburg. This is the other one we visited, 
and were taken through many rooms, and it is much 
finer than the Winter Palace. The magnificence of 
this is beyond anything the Queen of Sheba, or Solomon 
in all his glory, ever dreamed of, or was ever pictured in 
an "Arabian Nights" tale. There are three rooms — 
ball and reception rooms — all in white and heavy gold, 
with heavy white silk tapestry on walls and furniture 



Sweden and Russia 203 

alike; these are renewed as often as necessary, but 
always like the original. One room with tortoise shell 
panels; one room all inlaid with mother-of-pearl, the 
floors and all the woodwork; a suite of rooms all done 
in different kinds of agate; another suite for hot 
weather rooms, finished entirely in glass and porcelain; 
one room all in amber; one in lapis lazuli; a Chi- 
nese room, a silver room, a blue room, a purple room — 
and others. Then there was the art gallery; the 
magnificent grand-stairway; a superb collection of 
Chinese vases; most beautiful furniture, etc. indefinite- 
ly, with all sorts of paintings and statues of the great 
Catherine. 

A drive of several hours in the residence part of the 
city gave us a very good impression of it. It has many 
fine private residences built on islands formed by the 
separate streams — or mouths, — of the Neva River. 

The present city was once a swamp, or marsh, where 
the Neva emptied into the sea. But that was where 
the great Peter wanted the capital of Russia to be, and 
that is where he was determined to have it, in spite of 
the protests and arguments of his associates and ad- 
visers. So he made his thousands of serfs drive piles 
and fill in, until they had foundation enough to begin. 
The same method of making land has been continued, 
until to-day we see the results, — a magnificent city on 
apparently solid earth. We saw Peter's first palace, — 
with only three rooms. It is taken care of as a sacred 
relic. The main street of the city is the Nephski 
Prospect. 



204 Glimpses of Many Lands 

But I cannot remain longer at the modern capital, 
but must resume our journey to Moscow, the old 
capital before the ambitious Peter moved the seat of 
power farther north. It has walls, and palaces, and 
churches dating back to the I2th century. But first 
I must speak of our journey there. We took a night 
train to save time, as our guide told us the country was 
flat, and nothing of interest to see. So we started 
from St. Petersburg at ii p. m. and reached Moscow at 
lo A. M. the next day. This gave us several hours of 
daylight in the morning, which was enough to convince 
us the guide knew whereof he spoke. 

Our journey of eleven hours was over the western 
end of the Trans-Siberian Railway. We had a nice 
compartment in a very good sleeping car; and the 
smooth roadbed and careful handling of the train 
made night travel a joy, instead of the trial it usually 
is at home. And here I pause to remark that our rail- 
roads have very much to learn, — or at least to apply, — 
in methods of starting and stopping trains smoothly. 
Instead of bumping and banging as our trains do, we 
have noticed in all our foreign travel, — even in the Far 
east, — the trains start and stop so smoothly that we 
never feel the jar. This was an unusually comfortable 
trip; and we reached the hotel in Moscow ready for a 
good afternoon's work. You will observe that we 
never waste much time. Before noon we had hired 
a guide, and had our plans made. After lunch we went 
first to the Kremlin, which includes all within the old 
fortifications, — the citadel, the palaces, five principal 



Sweden anfi Russia ' 205 

churches, the bell tower, the great bell which now stands 
on a stone platform, and other interesting things. But 
the "Kremlin," is the name applied to the old fortified 
part. 

We went through two palaces here, one built in the 
13th century, and a comparatively modern one where 
the Czar stays when he visits Moscow. This last is 
like the two already mentioned, in its sumptuousness, — 
they say even richer, but I could not appreciate the 
difference enough to notice it. I only know it was a 
wonderful collection of rich and gorgeously beautiful 
things. 

We went into these five churches: one where the 
Czars are all married; another called the Coronation 
Church where they are all crowned. This is the greatest 
and most sacred of all; but in spite of all its gold and 
paintings, to me it looked very tawdry. Then there 
was the church where Alexander II was assassinated, 
and the Funeral Church where all the kings were buried 
before St. Petersburg was founded. We saw the later 
tombs there. In one of these famous churches Napo- 
leon stabled his horses for the little time he occupied 
Moscow; and we saw the rooms he occupied in the old 
palace. 

Outside the Kremlin is one magnificent modern 
church called " St. Saviour's." That name quite over- 
came me. Why the "St.".? One thing must not be 
forgotten in writing of the churches: all of them have 
golden domes, — some have many small ones, some have 
one or more larger ones, but all covered with real gold 



2o6 Glimpses of Many Lands 

leaf, until they shine like a "city of pure gold" from 
the distance. We took a carriage drive outside of 
the city, and beyond it to Sparrow Hill, named this 
by Napoleon, from the swarms of sparrows. This is 
where his soldiers camped when they took Moscow. 
From the hill we had a fine view of the city and sur- 
rounding country. From here the many golden domes 
shone gloriously. 

The second day we spent the whole forenoon in the 
"treasury," but that does not mean what we under- 
stand by the term. It is not the place where they keep 
the money, but a great building where they keep a lot 
of things which have cost a heap of money, — the 
"treasures" of each emperor and empress for many 
centuries, and all the relics of his and her reign and 
coronation, — millions and millions of dollars worth of 
valuable and beautiful things! — so valuable that no 
one can even make an estimate of their value; for 
instance, there are hundreds of heavy gold plates, 
elaborately fashioned in intricate designs and many of 
them profusely set with precious stones, which have 
been presented to the emperors by provinces, nobles, 
and other nations. Then there are inlaid and jewel- 
set guns and swords; and carriages and sleighs that are 
too grand for words to describe; jeweled armor; jewel- 
set saddles; the real horse, beautifully kept, which 
Catherine the Great rode; Elizabeth's sleigh, gorgeously 
arrayed as a house and sleeping car, in which she came 
from St. Petersburg for her coronation; the cradle and 
baby carriage of Peter the Great; and swords, rings, 



Sweden and Russia 207 

necklaces, crowns, and myriads of jewels of fabulous 
price. I mention these things to impress you with the 
glory and grandeur of the royalty and nobility of 
Russia, before I turn to another picture. 

From the treasury we went to the new modern 
church to which I have already referred. It has five 
golden domes, and cost ^14,000,000. St. Isaac's, in 
St. Petersburg, cost much more than this one, but no 
one knows how much. I have already spoken of the 
churches of the Kremlin. The churches are the 
principal feature of Moscow. Our guide-book says 
there are 450 of them; but our guide tells us there are 
enough chapels and shrines to make it count up 1600, so 
that it is called "the holy city" of Russia. The shrines 
are everywhere along the streets, — ^just a little niche 
in the wall with an "icon," or a canopy under which is 
an image; but no devout Russian ever passes one of 
them without bowing and making the sign of the cross, 
and often removing the hat. The "icons" are pictures 
or small images of saints, and are "the symbols of 
saints of God." In every Russian home, in every 
room in the hotels, in the railway station, — everywhere 
is an icon. His religion is the chief thing in life, to the 
Russian; and no wonder, for with the masses that is 
about all there is to life; their religion and their 
vodka make up the sum of their enjoyment of life. 
They say that vodka-drinking has been the curse of 
the Russian masses, and that Russia, more than any 
other nation in history, has suffered from the evils of 
intemperance. And one can hardly wonder at it 



2o8 Glimpses of Many Lands 

when one looks into the causes, and sees the grasp of 
tyranny in which the people are held by the Greek 
church. It is terrible. I never saw, heard of, or 
imagined a condition of superstitious ignorance worse 
than that of the masses of Russia. Even the Hinduism 
of Benares seems no worse. And the strange part of 
it is, they think they are free. They think they like 
all this pomp and ceremony of the church. They 
think they enjoy going on long pilgrimages to kiss a 
picture of a saint — or at least the glass in front of the 
picture. They think they go hungry, and give their 
last kopek to buy a candle to burn before an image, 
because they want to do so. But why do they think 
so? Because their fathers thought so, and their fathers' 
fathers, for many generations, thought so, and no one 
has ever tried to make them think any differently. 
We are told that Russia has the largest percentage of 
illiterates of any civilized nation, that over eighty 
per cent of them cannot read or write. They have 
some government schools in the cities, but in the vil- 
lages there is little chance for education, and in the 
country almost none. 

The private schools charge such extortionate rates of 
tuition that only the rich, or at least the well-to-do, 
can afford to enjoy the advantages of them. Our 
guide in Moscow told us that he sends his little girl, 
of six years, a half-day each day, from September to 
April, and pays 250 rubles, about $125.00, tuition. 
Imagine how few people can afford this in a country 
with 180 millions of people, where 100 millions are in 



Sweden and Russia 209 

absolute poverty,-— that is, have barely the necessities 
of life. 

And the cause of this dreadful condition of things 
lies in the church and the government, who do not 
want it to be otherwise. And the "government" 
does not mean the Czar, — not by any means. I have 
made up my mind that the much talked of tyranny of 
"The Czar of all the Russias" — and spelled with even 
more capital letters, sometimes — is chiefly a myth. 
We made it our business to study this subject, and from 
what we can learn and have observed we have de- 
cided that the present Czar is a nice little inoffensive 
chap, who would like to see everybody as well off as 
himself, and would not willingly harm anybody, — 
if he had his own way. But they say the poor fellow is 
only a figurehead in politics, and does not dare to 
call his soul his own. He is afraid to go out among the 
people, and never even where they can see him except 
in the most guarded streets, and then closely surrounded 
by his loyal Cossack guards, for fear of nihilists and 
anarchists. Then he is in just as deadly fear all the 
time in another way: the "government" is the 
duma, made up of the ministers, grand dukes, etc., 
phis the archbishops, priests, etc., of the church. The 
Czar is the nominal head of the church and of the 
government, but he isn't "It." 

The parliament rooms and the rooms of the "holy 
synod" are in adjoining buildings which are connected 
by an enclosed passage. Together they settle all 
questions of policy, and the nice, obliging, little em- 



2IO Glimpses of Many Lands 

peror is told to affix his signature. He does, — every 
time; for he knows that what he fears from the nihilists 
in the open would happen to him in secret in the palace, 
if he did not. 

Now I do not vouch for the absolute truth of all 
this. But it is told us for truth — this, and much more 
— by those who are right among these people all the 
time, and who have many opportunities to know 
facts which never get into print. I would never have 
dared to mail this letter in Russia, for from what I 
have heard I am sure it would never have got any 
farther than the censor — and I am not sure I would 
have got much farther myself. 

But again I have digressed. I want to tell you of 
one way the church and the other branch of the govern- 
ment conspire together to delude the poor, ignorant 
people who are so superstitious, and at the same time 
get their kopeks, which is the chief thing. As I have 
said, the people are blindly, fanatically religious. They 
are first, and above all else, a religious people, and they 
will do anything, and sacrifice anything, for their 
religion. So, knowing this, the combined forces of 
the government put their heads together and decide 
that Russia needs a new saint (they have something 
over two hundred of them). They look over history, 
and select some man who has a record of having done 
some great deeds, or has rendered some special service 
to Russia, and they vote to make him a saint; and the 
Czar is told to sign it, as he is the only man ordained 
of God to make saints. He does so. Then, as in the 



Sweden and Russia 211 

case of Alexander Nephski, — or Nevsky, — who had 
been dead for two hundred years, and buried in Novgo- 
rod, they take up the remains (after 200 years!), put 
them in a silver sarcophagus, carry them to St. Peters- 
burg, and build a chapel over them and tell the people 
of the wonderful miraculous power of St. Nevsky, 
who lived several hundred years ago. And they 
flock in droves to cross themselves at his tomb, and 
kiss his image. We are told that literally millions of 
them come to worship a new saint, and will give their 
last kopek for prayers to him. We saw a great crowd 
waiting patiently in line, each for his turn to kiss the 
glass which covered a saint's picture; and saw mothers 
lift up little children that they might kiss the same spot 
thousands of others had kissed. And every kiss cost 
them kopeks, — if nothing more, — for priests do not 
pray without kopeks, and saints are not kissed without 
price. 

Then another neat little game was described to us. 
The priests monopolize the making of candles for the 
shrines. Now this may seem a small industry, but 
when you realize that every person who goes to the 
shrine of a saint, or to a church, is expected to buy at 
least one candle and light it and leave it, you will see 
that there are millions of them used. Then when the 
devotee is gone, the partly burned candle is taken, put 
with thousands of others taken in the same way, 
melted, and made over into candles to be sold again. 
This is no myth or fairy tale; for we saw cartloads of 
these partly burned candles being hauled from different 



212 Glimpses of Many Lands 

shrines. And there are many ways, just as easy and 
as simple as these, by which the people, in their gross 
ignorance, are robbed. And it helps us to see why in 
this great country one hundred millions of the people 
are so poor, and there is such great riches piled up in 
the palaces and churches. And then, when a few of 
them do realize their awful poverty and contrast it 
with the lavishness of the palaces, and the lives of the 
nobility, they think it is all the fault of the cruel Czar — 
and they try to throw a bomb under his carriage. I do 
not blame them. I was so wrought up — so righteously 
indignant — all the time we were in Russia, that I 
wanted to do something dreadful myself. 

But I would not begin with the Czar. I would begin 
with the church, — that institution established nearly 
two thousand years ago to proclaim the gospel of the 
meek and lowly Jesus; to preach the gospel of peace; 
to lift up humanity; to teach the brotherhood of man; 
to make all men equal; to make men happy in this life, 
as well as to fit them for the life to come. That was 
the mission of the church. That was what Christ 
taught — and lived. And that was what He died for. 
But the greed of the world has made the Roman and 
Greek churches a travesty on the name of religion. 
And I, for one, will hail with joy any revolution, any 
war, anything, which will overthrow this corrupt 
thing which flourishes and grows fat under the guise 
of religion. 

And just now it looks as if there was revolution, or 
war, or something, in the air, for the Austria-Servia 



Sweden and Russia 213 

situation has Germany stirred up to the extent that 
Berlin seems to have gone mad. Our room fronts on 
the Unter den Linden, and all last night it was thronged 
with people, — thousands of them, — marching from 
one end to the other, back and forth, shouting and 
singing patriotic songs. This morning we asked what 
it all meant, and were told that Austria had declared 
war on Servia. Then I said, "But what has that to do 
with Germany?" and the answer was, "Oh, we are 
showing our approval. Great demonstration, isn't 
it?" The excitement and crowds have continued all 
day to-day. Something will be doing soon. But 
what? 

We left Moscow in the early evening for a twenty- 
seven-hours' ride to Warsaw, where we stopped for one 
day and night to rest. And we needed it, for it had 
been awfully hot, and the dustiest, dirtiest ride we have 
had, with horrid meals in the dining car. 

Warsaw is a nice city, and we spent a whole day 
driving about it; but there is nothing of special in- 
terest, so will not spend time on it now. We have not 
seen much of Berlin yet, but will begin to-morrow. 



XIX 

The Beginning of the War 

OsTEND, Belgium, August 4, 1914. 

I think I have several times written that I would not 
write another carbon-copy letter unless I should find 
something different. Well, we have found it, — some- 
thing so decidedly different from anything we have yet 
had, that it seems worth while to write it for the rest 
of you. 

But I'll begin back at Berlin. You will remember 
that I closed my last by speaking of the war demon- 
strations of that day and the previous night, — the 
night Austria declared war on Servia. The excite- 
ment and demonstrations continued for the four days 
and nights we were there, seeming to grow worse; but 
it did not trouble us at all, — we went on with our sight- 
seeing. And, meaning to go on toward the west, we 
had no thought that it would interfere with our plans, 
even if Germany should decide to help Austria punish 
Servia. It never occurred to us that it would require 
Germany to go through Belgium to do that. So, as I 
said, we went to all places of interest in the city, and 
went out to Potsdam where the Kaiser's palace is; 
and after we had been to the mausoleums of Frederick 
the Third and Victoria — the parents of the present 
Kaiser, — the old royal palace built in 1660, to Sans 
Souci, and everything else of note, we were returning 

214 



The Beginning of the War 215 

past the palace, which is the present residence of the 
Kaiser, and were just at the entrance gate in time to 
see Wilhelm and his Kaiserin arrive from their 
northern cruise, — having been "called home by the 
situation," it was said. They were in an automobile, 
and we had a good view of them, as we stood close by 
the drive. If he had to be called home, we were glad 
it happened that day, as it gave us another to add to 
our collection of rulers. And so finished our stay in 
Berlin. We like it very much, and think it is as nearly 
a "city beautiful" as we have found thus far in our 
trip around the world. 

From there we went to Hanover, and stayed one 
whole day and night. Drove over the principal parts 
of the city, and to the places of interest in the old 
city; then to the estate of the Duke of Cumberland, a 
beautiful park containing about 300 acres. On this 
estate is the royal palace of the House of Hanover, with 
which the English royal family is connected. 

After Hanover, The Hague, Holland. I will not 
stop to describe it, — it is only a city, though we thought 
it a very clean, lovely one. But we added one more 
to our "collection" by seeing the little Princess Juliana 
out riding in a park. We were sorry it was not her 
royal mother. Queen Wilhelmina. 

Of course we took the trip to Schevenengen, the sea 
shore resort. And I must not forget to mention, also, 
that we saw the great Peace Palace, — though it seems 
to have gone out of business for the present. 

Then we came to Brussels. We had not been 



2i6 Glimpses of Many Lands 

able to get an English paper for several days, and, as 
we met few people we could talk with, we did not know 
until we reached Brussels that anything serious was 
brewing. That was the last day of July. We found 
the city wild with excitement. Germany had defied 
France, and had asked Belgium what she was going to 
do about it, — if she would be with them against France. 
Belgium replied that she would remain neutral. Then 
Germany proceeded at once to get ready to move her 
troops across Belgium into France, and Belgium was 
mobilizing her troops on the border to be ready to 
defend herself. But we did not know this at first, 
and the next morning — it was Saturday — we went 
about our usual sight-seeing by going with a Cook party 
and guide to the battle field of Waterloo, fourteen 
miles out from Brussels. This took all day, and was 
such a splendid trip, and so interesting, that we forgot 
all about the excitement and the troubles of the rest of 
the world. For we had read so little, and knew so 
little of the real state of aifairs, thatwe had not dreamed 
of anything serious in this western part of Europe. 
Sunday we did not go out until afternoon, when we 
took a car ride out to the king's palace, and walked in 
a park a while, still entirely at our ease. But when we 
got back, the crowds and the excitement were worse, 
and we began to inquire into things. We were told 
that Germany had sent an ultimatum to Belgium the 
night before; that Belgium had refused to allow 
Germany to cross her territory, and now it was war. 
At the hotel — the Astoria — many of the employees 



The Beginning of the War 217 

were summoned to go to the front, the hotel automobile 
'bus had been requisitioned, the head cook and nearly- 
all the waiters had been summoned, and chaos reigned. 
Monday, when we went to Cook's office at 9 a. m. 
intending to go out for a day's tour of the city, we found 
the office crowded with excited, panic-stricken Amer- 
icans, all trying to get money, and tickets for London. 
None got the money, and only a few the tickets. When 
all the tickets they had were sold, it was announced 
that Cook's office would close at noon, to remain 
closed until such a time as business could be resumed. 
So we got a guide who was familiar with everything 
in the city, and he took us to a bank where the American 
Express Company had headquarters, to try to get some 
money. I forgot to say that when we were in The 
Hague we could not get any money on our letter of 
credit, so came to Brussels almost "broke," but got 
twenty-five dollars at Cook's, on Saturday, with the 
promise that we could have more on Monday. But on 
Monday no one would give money on a letter of credit — 
no bank or anybody else. But the American Express 
Company cashed one of their own twenty-dollar checks, 
— that was all they would let us have; with that, added 
to the little we had, we felt we could get along if we 
could get to London, and maybe things would be 
better there. So C. F. and the guide went next to the 
railway station, and got our tickets to London, via 
Ostend and Folkstone. All boats are stopped between 
Calais and Dover, as the British have taken Dover as a 
naval base. 



2i8 Glimpses of Many Lands 

Then we had an early lunch, and went more than an 
hour ahead of time, to be at the station early, to take a 
1:15 train for Ostend, where we expected to take a 
boat at 4 p. M. for Folkstone. But we didn't. When 
we got to the station we found there were a few thou- 
sand other people who had thought just as we had about 
being early at that train, and there was a terrible 
jam, — mostly English and Americans, — all wild to 
get out of Brussels as quickly as possible. The train 
did not back into the depot until more than an hour 
after time, and we had stood in that jam two full 
hours; then in the mad rush to get on board we were 
simply carried with the crowd into a third-class car, 
where we each had a seat, and, much to our surprise, 
found ourselves almost comfortable. When we reached 
Ostend we found the boat gone, and all had to go to 
hotels. That was easy, as Ostend is a seashore resort 
and fashionable watering place, and resorters had nearly 
all made their retreat, so we have a comfortable room 
near the seashore. On thinking the matter over 
we decided not to try to get away in the crowd of to- 
day, but to remain here one day and let them thin out 
a little. We went to the docks to see the morning 
boat start, and it was literally packed, and we were 
glad we were not on it. Then we went to see the after- 
noon boat start, and it was just as bsid. Now we are 
wondering whether we had better try to go to-morrow. 
We would be quite willing to stay here a couple of days 
longer, as it is a nice quiet place, and there is no possible 
danger of invasion by Germany here, as it is on the 



The Beginning of the War 219 

northwest coast of Belgium. But if real hostilities 
begin between England and Germany — and it seems 
as if that might happen at any moment — then the 
last line of boats would stop, and we could not get away 
at all. I want to get this letter mailed this evening, 
so that you may hear from us as soon as possible; then 
if we get to London to-morrow evening, we will mail 
a letter the next day, that you may know of our escape. 

Do not worry about us. We are not in the slightest 
danger from the war; but we are in a rather interesting 
plight as "poor Americans," and have to ask the hotels 
for "an inexpensive room." Then the next incon- 
venience — to refer to it mildly — is the fact that our 
paid-for reservations on a German line boat will not 
take us home when we planned, unless the war-cloud 
rolls away very soon, which does not look promising 
just now, as Germany has invaded the southeastern 
part of Belgium to go into France, England has prom- 
ised to stand by Belgium, and millions of men in seven 
nations of Europe are getting ready to kill each other. 
It seems too terrible to imagine, in this 20th century 
of civilization. Business in every line is paralyzed, 
and beautiful fields of grain are being left unharvested 
because the men have been called to the front. It is 
all too dreadful for words. 

Of course we understand that you at home know all 
about the situation in a general way, even better than 
we do; but I write this as fully and definitely as I have 
done, so that you may know just how we are affected 
by it all. 



220 Glimpses of Many Lands 

We left Brussels so suddenly and unexpectedly, that 
we did not see the city as we would have liked, and 
we hope the Germans will not spoil it so we can't enjoy 
it the next time. We liked it very much, what we did 
see of it, and the country all around it is most beautiful. 
The view from the top of the mound on the field of 
Waterloo is as fine a rural picture as we ever saw. 

An hour later, ii 130 p. m. 
Just at this point I was interrupted by such commo- 
tion and shouting and excitement on the street, that 
we ran downstairs and out on the street to see what 
had happened. The town is all in a frenzy. England 
has declared war on Germany, and now there is no 
telling where it will all end. This decides the question 
for us, and we will get aboard the boat to-morrow morn- 
ing for Folkstone, if possible. But again I repeat, 
don't worry about us. We will let you know as soon 
as we find out anything about passage home. In the 
meantime, England will be a safe place to stay, and 
we will hope to get some money there. Now isn't 
this different.'' And don't you think we are having 
some thrills? But we are both well, and still able to 
hustle. 



XX 

On the Atlantic 

On board the 
Steamship "Adriatic" 
September 24, 1914. 

Our brief notes and cards have kept you posted as 
to our whereabouts and welfare, and now that we 
are again at the old familiar place of letter-writing — 
on board a big steamer, — I will try to gather up the 
tangled threads of travel, and complete my record of 
our trip around the world. 

The morning after mailing my last letter, we went 
early to the docks to be in line for a place on the first 
steamer leaving for England, supposed to start at 10 
o'clock. It was very necessary to be early, and near 
the front end of the line, for we knew it was a case of 
"first come first served" there, and that no favoritism, 
money, or "pull," could help anyone when the crowd 
began to move. It was a case of push, rather than 
"pull." We simply had to have a place in the crowd 
and go in with the push. We were thankful we had 
nothing but hand baggage, as trunks were piled as 
high as the station house for two blocks along the 
wharf. But we had left ours in Paris the middle of 
June, and they were to be sent to London the last of 
July, so we knew they were all right. 

We got chairs on deck, and were soon comfortably 
221 



222 Glimpses of Many Lands 

settled for a five-hours' trip on the English Channel. 
The day was cloudy and the sea choppy, and there 
were several hard showers of rain, and we had to use 
umbrellas and overcoats on deck. But we did not 
mind such a little inconvenience as rain, as long as we 
were not ill; and we both kept up all the way, though 
many did not, for the Channel was making good its 
reputation for being rough. But we reached Folkstone 
safely at 3 130 p. m., and found several long trains wait- 
ing to take us to London, which we reached at 7 
o'clock. 

Now, you will say, our troubles were all over and 
we could forget them. But the facts proved the case 
to be quite different. Not expecting to be in London 
at that particular time, we had no hotel reservation, so 
took a taxi and went to St. Ermins, which had been 
recommended to us; and when we got there they said 
they were "full up" — could not possibly take us, 
and could not suggest where we might find a place to 
stay, as everybody from the Continent (the tourists, 
I mean) was crowding into London^ and the hotels 
were all crowded. But after some talking it was 
agreed to let us have, for two days, a room which was 
being held for a party who was not due till that time. 

The next morning we sallied forth to replenish our 
depleted coffers — or pocket-books. That was August 
sixth, and the banks had been closed for four days, 
getting plans made to meet the new financial situation. 
They would not be open till the next day, and a letter 
of credit was not of any service to one in London 



On the Atlantic 223 



until then. So we abandoned that part of our pro- 
gram, and began to call at steamship offices to see what 
could be done about tickets for home. But every- 
where we went we found crowds of excited Americans, 
all eager to get passage home, — and willing to take 
second-class, steerage, anything, — only let them get 
started for America now, no matter how or on what. 
That was the attitude of the most of them, though a 
good many fell out of line and said, "What is the 
use! We'll wait till the panic is over, and go home in 
comfort." The next day, Friday, it was no better; 
so we went to the bank, where we got money enough 
to make us feel very rich and independent, and could 
ride in a 'bus now instead of walk. Again we went to 
the boat offices, but could not get even near enough 
the counters to make inquiries; so we decided to give 
it all up for a couple of weeks and take our trip through 
Scotland, and when we would come back it would surely 
be thinned out a little. Accordingly, we made our ar- 
rangements, bought our tickets, and Saturday morning 
started for Edinburgh, where we arrived that evening. 
In Edinburgh we did the usual things and saw the 
usual sights, and enjoyed the old city very much, and 
reviewed our knowledge of John Knox, Mary Queen 
of Scots, Walter Scott, etc. Then we continued our 
journey north to Inverness, on the north coast. We 
found this a very lovely place among lovely hills, near 
to the famous battle field of Culloden. We had 
tickets for a trip to Oban, and through the beautiful 
Caledonian Canal region; but the war had upset all 



224 Glimpses of Many Lands 

travel, and the boats to Oban had been discontinued; 
so we went south by rail to Glasgow. Here we saw 
the city and the great ship-building industries, and had 
a chance to compare the latter with the same industry 
in Hamburg, which I forgot to mention in writing of 
that city. When there, we went out in a small steamer, 
all around the harbor and in the ship-building yards, 
and it is a really wonderful sight. They say they have 
the largest cranes in the world. We saw the great 
new steamboat, the "Bismarck," which was near 
completion, — a sister ship of the "Vaterland," but a 
little longer. The yards at Glasgow did not seem to 
us so extensive, but they say they are. From Glasgow 
we took the trip through the Trossachs, — a most de- 
lightful one. Were there just at the right season to 
see the heather in bloom, and the purple hills were very 
beautiful. Had boat rides on all the charming lakes, 
and particularly enjoyed Loch Katrine. Saw the 
many "Bens" made famous by Sir Walter Scott, and 
altogether found it a delightful trip. 

Our next jaunt was to Ayr, where we saw the home 
of "Bobbie" Burns, and many things of which he 
wrote; and being there on Sunday we attended service 
at the "new kirk," just across the road from the 
"auld kirk" and the "auld kirkyard" of which he 
sang. "The banks an' braes o' Bonnie Doon" are 
still the same, and the "Auld Brig" still there. 

Spent some time in a trip among the English lakes, 
which is almost as beautiful a region as the Trossachs 
and the Scottish lakes, — then a day and two nights at 



On the Atlantic 225 



the great manufacturing city of Leeds; and from there 
to Leamington, which we made headquarters for 
automobile trips to Warwick Castle, old Kenilworth 
Castle, and Stratford-on-Avon with all its relics of 
Shakespeare. 

Our next stop was Oxford with its more than twenty- 
famous colleges. We passed by them all, and were in 
some of them. But the most interesting things to us 
were the Oxford Press, where the millions of Bibles are 
printed, and the Bodleian Library with its rare treas- 
ures. On Saturday at noon we were back in London, 
having been gone just two weeks. Did not do anything 
but get settled that day; but Monday we started out 
to look for tickets for home, but with no success. 
Found almost as great crowds in all the steamship 
offices, and no apparent chance for bookings earlier 
than some time in October. But we kept up our efforts 
day after day, using part of each day to see the sights 
of London. 

Finally we succeeded in securing tickets and a 
fine cabin on an upper deck of the White Star liner 
the "Laurentic," to sail from Liverpool on September 
26th; so we were then at liberty to see London, and 
be happy, as nearly as one could be under the existing 
conditions. For all this time the war was getting more 
dreadful, and beautiful Belgium, that we had seen so 
prosperous, so lovely, only a little while ago, was being 
devastated and ruined by the modern "Huns and bar- 
barians." It seemed so near by — and as if we could 
almost see across the Channel to the horror of it all. 



226 Glimpses of Many Lands 

By and by the trainloads of Belgian refugees began 
arriving, and every evening there was one or more 
trainload of them, and Charing Cross station was one 
of the great centers of interest in London. The relief 
committees were there, and dozens of sight-seeing cars, 
'buses, and automobiles every evening went away 
crowded with these poor heart-broken people. There 
were many pitiful sights, — these poor people carrying 
little bundles containing all that was left of their earthly 
possessions; — and the vast throngs of people that 
crowded Trafalgar Square, and every foot of available 
space within two blocks of the Charing Cross station, 
all raised their hats to this remnant of crushed human- 
ity from "brave little Belgium." This was not one 
night only; but every night, for the three weeks more 
that we remained in London, it was the same. Every 
night the whole vicinity of Charing Cross was thronged, 
and every night the trainloads of pitiful people ar- 
rived — sometimes as many as a thousand in one day. 
And London cared for them, — took them to comfort- 
able shelter, and clothed and fed them. 

Besides these sad sights, every day we saw new 
recruits marching in companies to camps, and soldiers 
in uniform going to trains; and after while the train- 
loads of wounded began to arrive. It was all so dis- 
tracting that seeing London was not an interesting 
task, though we tried hard to see the many places 
and things of beauty and of historical interest. But 
many places and things were closed, and we were not 
admitted, — partly because of the war, and partly 



On the Atlantic 227 



because of the suffragettes who had been doing such 
wanton deeds of destruction among valuable things. 

The great British Museum and the National Art Gal- 
lery had been closed for a long time,but had been reopened 
about the time we got there, as the militants had called 
a halt, and had promised to be good till the war is over, 
when, they say, they will begin just where they left off. 

But the war excitement, and soldiers, and refugees 
"got on our nerves" to such an extent that we decided 
to leave London, and go to Liverpool to be ready for 
our boat; and from there we planned to go over and 
spend a week in Ireland while we were waiting. So 
we went to Liverpool on Saturday the 12th of Septem- 
ber. Monday morning we stopped in the White Star 
line office to ask how the "Laurentic" was getting on, 
and were told the English government had taken the 
"Laurentic" to transport soldiers. Imagine our feelings ! 
Our second tickets of no use! But there was nothing 
to do but begin all over again, and haunt the steam- 
ship offices in Liverpool as we had those of London. 
The White Star could not give us anything before 
October 9th, so we hurried away to the Cunard office, 
and could not do even as well there. Then back again 
to the White Star office and sat down to meditate and 
grasp the importance of the situation. Maybe con- 
ditions would get so much worse on the sea that after 
while boats would not run at all. What could we do 
but wait.^ We could not walk, and I was most em- 
phatic in my statement that I would spend the rest of 
my life on that side of the water before I would go 



228 Glimpses of Many Lands 

home steerage. When we had made up our minds 
that Ireland would be as good a place, in which to be 
buried as we could find on that side of the ocean we 
went again to the desk to announce our decision not 
to go home at present; and the obliging ticket manipula- 
tor told us he had a cabin for an earlier date of sailing 
which he could offer us. About an hour before, he 
said, parties had given up a four-berth cabin on an 
upper deck of the "Adriatic," to sail on Thursday the 
17th — this was Monday — and we could have it if we 
wished to pay for the larger cabin. He would give us 
only a few minutes to decide, as there were many who 
were waiting for just such an opportunity. It did 
not take us long to make up our minds that the trip 
to Ireland could be postponed until the next time we 
crossed the water; and though we thought the $250.00 
extra was a pretty big price, we consoled ourselves 
with the thought of the nice big cabin we would have. 
So it was soon settled, and for the third time we had 
tickets, and were booked for a definite date of sailing, — 
this time for such an early date that it almost took 
our breath away. But it was a relief to have it settled. 
That gave us only two more days in Liverpool, so 
we decided to use one of them for a trip to the home of 
our ancestors, the city of Congleton, about seventy 
miles southeast of Liverpool, in Cheshire. We found 
it a very pretty old town, with a definite history dating 
back to the 12th century, and much of traditional 
history back to the second century. It has now about 
12,000 population, some old ruins, and some very 



On the Atlantic 229 



pretty modern things; with hills, a river, and beautiful 
scenery all about it. 

On the afternoon of the 17th we came aboard the 
"Adriatic," and were well pleased with our cabin and 
the general appearance of the boat. It was a cloudy 
afternoon, with showers at frequent intervals; and just 
a few moments before we left the docks the sun shone 
out and there was a beautiful, perfect arch of a rain- 
bow across the east, which we took for an omen of good, 
a "bow of promise." 

I copy this from my diary of that day: "After din- 
ner we went out on deck, and found it as dark as mid- 
night — not a light anywhere, and every window 
darkened; and it made us realize that we were traveling 
in war-time, with great caution." This has been the 
feeling during the entire trip. There has been no 
real fear shown, but there is a sort of tense feeling all 
the time, as if something might happen; and every 
morning we are glad to see the daylight, and every 
night to feel that we "are one day nearer home." 
There has been no social merriment during the entire 
trip, — no games, no dancing, no fancy dress balls, 
nor any of the amusements which we usually see on a 
large steamer. The weather has been cold and blustery 
a good deal of the time, with a great deal of fog. Our 
chief discomfort has been the foghorn, which has kept 
up its music a great deal of the time. Many have been 
ill, but to our surprise we have enjoyed every meal thus 
far across the Atlantic, and are still maintaining our 
record as "good sailors." 



230 Glimpses of Many Lands 

This is Thursday the 24th, just one week on the 
water, and I am going to add a little after we have had 
our first sight of land, as we expect to reach New York 
to-morrow. 

Friday, September 25, 1914. 

We were up early to watch for land, and grudged 
all the time we had to stay indoors for breakfast, as 
the many fishing boats indicated we were near land. 
By arid by we could see the outlines of the coast of the 
southeastern part of Massachusetts, and toward noon 
could see the outHnes of New York in the distance. 
Now we have seen it, — the good old United States, — 
and are waiting in the New York harbor for the usual 
preliminaries before going to the dock. We saw Ellis 
Island, but we did not stop, for though we have many 
steerage passengers, they are not immigrants. 

New York, Friday evening. 

Here we are safe and sound on land again, and 
among the skyscrapers of an American city, after 
having been around the world. 

We have been on all the oceans except the Antarctic, 
on nearly all the large seas, gulfs, and bays, from six 
degrees south of the equator to seventy-two degrees 
north, in twenty-eight different countries, and have 
traveled by rail and steamer about forty-seven thou- 
sand miles. 

We will stay in New York a few days, and expect 
to be home on October ist — ^just one year from the day 
we sailed west from San Francisco Bay. 



n 



